Arkansas is adding 28-year old former MLB player Monte Harrison to its football roster. Harrison, who was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2014, will join the Razorbacks as a walk-on wide receiver ahead of the 2024 season, according to 247Sports.
Harrison, who now measures in at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, took an unofficial visit to Fayetteville, Arkansas, in April. 247Sports notes that Harrison also had opportunities to play football at Nebraska and Tennessee prior to choosing Arkansas.
Ironic, given that Harrison initially signed with the Huskers (to play football) out of Lee’s Summit (Missouri) West High School in 2014. He was the No. 52 wide receiver and No. 7 prospect in the state of Missouri in his class.
“Best pure athlete I’ve ever seen,” says 247Sports’ Michael Bruntz, who covered Harrison as a recruit when he signed with Nebraska in 2014.
But he never suited up for Nebraska. He was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the second round of that summer’s 2014 MLB Draft and signed a rookie contract with a $1.8 million bonus out of high school. He’d spend the next decade bouncing around various minor league farm systems, with brief stints in the majors in between.
Here’s five things to know about Arkansas’ newest (and oldest) wide receiver.
Major League contracts paying off
247Sports reports that Harrison will use his professional earnings to pay tuition at Arkansas, allowing him to comfortably play football without the need for a scholarship. That $1.8 million signing bonus he accrued accounts for a vast majority of the money he made playing baseball.
According to Spotrac, Harrison boasts a career earnings figure of $2,592,449. That number is purely based on contract information and doesn’t take into account any…
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