FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn wore a big smile Thursday, two days after returning from a 40-day trip as the head coach of Team USA's collegiate national team.
Van Horn guided the team to an 18-8-1 record and the championship of the Haarlem Baseball Week tournament in the Netherlands, which was cause for happiness, but his grin was more about the Razorbacks keeping the bulk of their highly regarded signing class heading into the fall.
"We did hold our class together, maybe the best since I've been here," Van Horn said.
Van Horn also was pleased that the tightness that developed in junior pitcher Trey Killian's arm and shut him down after three outings for the national team was not projected as anything serious.
"I think it was my arm telling me it's time to shut it down and get rested and ready to come back for next season with the Razorbacks," Killian said. "I'm doing some recovery stuff, some stretching and some strengthening and just giving it a little break right now."
Killian said the Team USA doctor and other medical professionals examined his arm.
"They didn't feel like there was any structural damage in there," Van Horn said. "Then he got back here, got the MRI and everything was clean. They said his elbow looked great, but he did have tendinitis. So he just needed to rest it and rehab it and he'll be fine."
Killian accompanied Team USA to the Netherlands, but he came home when the team headed to Cuba so he could be replaced on the roster.
Killian projects as a weekend starter when the Razorbacks begin preparing for their 2015 season, and their signing class should be a huge help.
The Razorbacks lost 6-7 left-hander Sam Hentges, who was drafted in the third round by the Cleveland Indians and received a $700,000 signing bonus, but they kept ace right-hander Keaton McKinney, who stood by his asking price of $1 million and wasn't drafted until the 28th round as a courtesy by the New York Mets.
Arkansas also kept outfielder Luke Bonfield of Bradenton, Fla., a 21st-round pick by the Mets, as well as Pulaski Academy catcher Blake Wiggins and catcher Nathan Rodriguez of Plascentia, Calif.
"We lost one, Sam Hentges, the big lefty who went late in the third round, and they gave him basically sandwich pick money," Van Horn said. "If we would have kept him, that would have been incredible, to keep him and McKinney.
"I thought we'd lose McKinney and keep Sam and it ended up being the opposite, but at least we kept one of them, so I'm excited about that."
McKinney, a 6-5, 220-pound right hander, has a chance to be a standout in college.
" They offered him a lot, or kept calling him and asking him if he'd take a certain number, and he wouldn't back off of it," Van Horn said. "I think it was at least a million dollars and he wouldn't back off. Credit to him. He stuck to his word."
Team USA went 6-1-1 against Chinese Taipei and Japan in North Carolina before heading to Europe. The Americans rallied from a 1-0 loss to Japan to open the Haarlem tournament to win seven games in a row, including four by shutout, before defeating Japan 6-3 in the championship game.
After a short break, Team USA's tour continued with a series of five "friendlies" in Cuba, which was stinging after being swept in the United States last year. Van Horn said last year's Cuban team did not include all of its best players because of a fear that players might try to defect, and one did defect.
"It was men against boys," Van Horn said. "They were waiting on us. ... They took the best players off their teams and they were waiting on us."
Van Horn said the Cubans, embarrassed after going 0-5 against Team USA last year, were loaded with talent that would equal "at least a Triple-A team" in the United States.
"When they beat us 4-3 [in the first game], man, their coaches were hugging, celebrating, because they were feeling a lot of pressure," he said. "You could really see it.
"The stadium was like playing in a bull-fighting arena. I mean, it was loud -- horns. The intercom system was so loud. ... It was very distracting and it took us a little bit of time to get used to it."
Van Horn and Team USA flew back to Miami and on to Atlanta on Monday, then he made it back to Northwest Arkansas late Monday.
"I'm really glad I did it," Van Horn said. "Am I ready to do it again in the next couple of years? No. Because it is very time-consuming.
"It was 40-plus days of straight up coaching baseball. I think it'll make me a better coach."
Sports on 08/01/2014