Ontario Baseball Association
Ontario Baseball Association
menuBEC Welcomes University of Arkansas Assistant Coach Nate Thompson
CAMBRIDGE - Baseball Ontario is proud to announce the next guest speaker for the 2024 Best Ever Coaches Clinic, University of Arkansas Assistant Coach, Nate Thompson.
Nate Thompson completed his sixth season as an assistant coach for the Arkansas baseball program in 2023.
Thompson, the Razorbacks’ hitting coach and recruiting coordinator, has helped develop numerous All-Americans, All-SEC honorees and MLB draft selections since joining the program ahead of the 2018 campaign. Under Thompson’s guidance, outfielder Heston Kjerstad, taken by the Baltimore Orioles with the second overall pick of the 2020 MLB Draft, became Arkansas’ highest-selected draftee since infielder Jeff King was picked first overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986.
Highlighted by Kjerstad’s first-round selection, 20 Razorback hitters have heard their names called in the MLB draft since 2018, Thompson’s first year as hitting coach. No program in the country has had more hitters selected in the MLB draft than Arkansas during that span.
On the field, Arkansas has displayed jaw-dropping power and prolific run-scoring ability since Thompson began working with the hitters, posting four of the top five school records for home runs in a season under his watch: 109 (2021), 106 (2022), 98 (2018) and 92 (2023). The Razorbacks recorded consecutive 100-homer seasons in 2021 (109) and 2022 (106) for the first time in school history. Arkansas also leads the SEC in runs scored (2,508) and runs batted in (2,326) since 2018.
Since Thompson joined the coaching staff, Arkansas has won a nation-leading 244 games, made three trips to the College World Series (2018, 2019 & 2021) and clinched a pair of overall SEC titles (2021 & 2023) as well as four SEC Western Division titles (2018, 2019, 2021 & 2023). Additionally, the Razorbacks won Collegiate Baseball’s national recruiting championship for the first time in program history in 2023 as Arkansas’ star-studded recruiting class was named the nation’s best by the publication.
As the program’s recruiting coordinator, Thompson has helped Arkansas land a top-five recruiting class in three consecutive years (2021-23) and a top-10 recruiting class in four straight years (2020-23). Arkansas is the only team in the country to earn a top-five recruiting class ranking from Collegiate Baseball in each of the last three years.
The 2024 Best Ever Coaches Clinic returns to the Sheraton Toronto Airport from January 12-14, 2024. It features a line-up of knowledgeable guest speakers, an 8U-13U Youth Team education series, vendors, and much more! To register, visit www.playoba.ca/bestever.