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The UA baseball program was coming off a trip to the College World Series. But its coach, Jay Johnson, was headed to LSU. His replacement, Chip Hale, was an all-time Wildcat — but one who’d never coached a college game or recruited a would-be college player.

Nearly four years later, many of the players who committed to that novice college coach are still in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥. They form the homegrown foundation of a consensus Top 25 team that has its eyes on Omaha entering the 2025 season.

Outfielder Brendan Summerhill is a preseason All-American and projected first-round draft pick. Shortstop Mason White is on track to become the second-most prolific home run hitter in program history. Third baseman Maddox Mihalakis is ascending after a sizzling summer. Right-handers Casey Hintz and Tony Pluta are back to stabilize a pitching staff in transition.

Those five, plus outfielder TJ Adams and righty Kenan Elarton, were members of Hale’s first signing class — one he and his staff had to scramble to keep and piece together. That they’re all still here — when it’s so easy to pick up your ball and leave via the transfer portal — is a testament to their loyalty and the culture Hale has fostered.

Just call them the OCs — Original Chipsters.

“We would never transfer,� said White, a Salpointe Catholic High School product who led the Wildcats in runs, home runs, RBIs, total bases and slugging percentage as a sophomore last season.

“There's no other place in the country that treats players like this. The facilities, obviously, are top-of-the-line. The coaching, you can see what we do on the field. The people we have in the room, it's like a big family.

“Where else would you want to go unless you're chasing money? We're not chasing money. We're chasing wins.�

It’s easy for White to say he’d never consider playing anywhere else. He grew up in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ dreaming of playing for ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, where his father and grandfather preceded him on the diamond. White also started for most of his freshman season.

But White isn’t the only one from the class of ’22 who stayed true to his school. And most of the others didn’t have prominent roles at the outset.

“It starts from the top down,� said Summerhill, who earned All-Pac-12 honors last year after appearing in only 22 games as a freshman. “We all want to stay here because of what the coaches have built. There's a good culture. It's a historic program. They've won a lot in the past. I feel like we've won a lot while I've been here.

“It's so exciting to be a part of that. You don't want to leave a place like this. You have everything you could want.�

Reasons to stay

Transferring has become an accepted part of the business of college sports. Baseball America reported last month that entered the portal during the 2024 cycle.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ has actively participated in it, particularly when it comes to pitching. Two-thirds of last year’s weekend rotation, Clark Candiotti (Wichita State) and Cam Walty (Nevada), transferred to the UA from other four-year schools. Two likely starting pitchers on this year’s team, Collin McKinney (Baylor) and Christian Coppola (Rutgers), did as well.

Only two members of the projected starting nine transferred to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ from other four-year schools: catcher Adonys Guzman (Boston College) and center fielder Aaron Walton (Samford). Hale has acknowledged that the Wildcats have struck out in pursuit of transfers in the past few cycles — losing college sports’ version of a free-agency bidding war. But they also have kept players who could have made more money elsewhere.

Asked specifically about Summerhill, White and Mihalakis, Hale said: “Those are quality character guys, all of them. They’re good people first. ... Could they have gotten more NIL money somewhere else? Probably. But the quality of coaching they get here, I think, is a huge part of why they want to stay. And the culture of our program. Also, it's a fun place to be.�

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ hasn’t lost many players to the portal who were projected to have major roles. Outfielder Mac Bingham played two seasons under Hale (2022 and ’23) before reuniting with Johnson — his original coach and recruiter — at LSU. Pitchers Aiden May (Oregon State), Chandler Murphy (Missouri) and Josh Randall (San Diego) started their careers at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ before representing other schools in the MLB Draft.

“I don't ever worry about them leaving because, to me, it's wasted energy,� said Hale, whose team opens the season Friday against Ole Miss in the Shriners Children's College Showdown in Arlington, Texas. “They know what we can give them in the NIL market. They know what we can give them in the scholarship market.�

Players also know what ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ can provide in terms of development — from facilities to coaching. The program recently completed the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Baseball Pitching Wing inside the Terry Francona Hitting Center — one of only a handful of state-of-the-art “pitching labsâ€� in the country. Last year, pitching coaches Kevin Vance and John DeRouin helped transform the Wildcats’ staff into one of the nation’s best. Hale not only played Major League Baseball but managed the Diamondbacks and coached for the Mets, Athletics, Nationals and Tigers.

“He's such a players’ coach,� White said. “He understands what you're going through. He understands everything that you're doing. He's done it. He's been here at this school. He gets it.

“He's been to the big leagues. He's coached in the big leagues. He's everything that we all are striving to be. It's an example for all of us every day.�

Building bonds

Summerhill could have gone pro straight out of high school.

“A couple teams called him during the draft,� Hale said. “He was close. But he understood he had to get better.�

Summerhill was in an enviable position: He didn’t need the money.

“It would have had to be seven figures,� he said.

So Summerhill took that leap of faith and signed with ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ before Hale ever coached a college game. Summerhill’s experience since then? Priceless.

“Knowing what I know now,� he said, “I made the right choice.�

White had a different journey. He was undersized and under-recruited. He was ecstatic to land a UA offer — which came from Hale after former assistant Dave Lawn urged him to watch White work out at Salpointe — and had ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ in his blood.

Still, it was a gamble of sorts. Hale hadn’t even filled out his staff when White committed in the summer of 2021.

“I didn't know anything about what was going on down here, about what Chip was going to do. I just trusted him. I bought into coming in here and being a Wildcat,� White said. “I kind of bet on everything, bet on myself, and it really worked out.�

Like Summerhill, Mihalakis had been recruited by the previous staff. Mihalakis, who wasn’t as big a prospect as Summerhill, described his initial interactions with Hale as “professional� and “simple.�

Hale “just reached out, got to know me, like someone would do to a player they’re recruiting,� Mihalakis said. “Just got on the same page and then told me, ‘Be ready to go in the fall.’�

Mihalakis conceded that transferring “was always something in the back of my mind� when he barely played as a freshman (11 games, 16 at-bats). But he believed he could achieve his potential under Hale and his staff. After lighting up the Northwoods League last summer, Mihalakis appears to be on that path.

Although Summerhill, White and Mihalakis took disparate routes to arrive at a similar place, they all went through struggles at one point or another. Sharing those experiences, over time, built bonds that can’t be manufactured.

“It's hard to force culture,� Mihalakis said. “It's hard to force camaraderie onto a group.�

White considers programs consisting mostly of transfers to be “showcase� teams — “where we're an actual team.� That team won eight times via walk-off last season.

“I've known them longer than pretty much everyone else,� White said of his fellow juniors, “because we were in the dorm together. We went through all the same stuff. We all committed here (to) Chip without a lot of prior knowledge. We all trusted him. And we're still here.�