Kentucky baseball’s first trip to College World Series has opened doors in recruiting

Six weeks have passed since the Kentucky baseball team cracked the code to earn the program’s first trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Six weeks and the glow is nowhere close to fading.

“The reception has been unbelievable,” UK baseball coach Nick Mingione said Thursday. “And you know I’ve often said the best thing to help you in recruiting is to play in Omaha. All eyes are fixated on that.”

Indeed, a general public that had never previously been given much reason to think about Kentucky baseball saw the Wildcats competing on national television at the highest level in one of college sports’ most iconic events.

“The time we spent out there was so good for us because it opened up a whole new can of worms for us, especially from a recruiting standpoint,” said Mingione, using the expression in a positive way. “Especially the guys in the transfer portal, when they’re sitting there and trying to decide what’s important to them, winning is one of them.”

And Kentucky’s victories as SEC regular-season co-champion, NCAA regional champion and super regional champion, as Mingione put it, has “got us in the door with a lot more players than we have.”

It also helped result in seven Kentucky players being selected in the just completed Major League Baseball Draft — Ryan Waldschmidt (first round to Arizona); Emilien Pitre (second to Tampa Bay); Ryan Nicholson (10th to the Los Angeles Angels); Trey Pooser (10th to Tampa Bay); Mason Moore (15th to the Chicago White Sox); Travis Smith (15th to Milwaukee) and Dominic Niman (18th to Tampa Bay).

“I couldn’t be more thrilled,” Mingione said. “I had the opportunity to speak to all of them and express the amount of joy, not only for me but for everyone in our program, the city, the state. It’s been pretty amazing.”

Thursday’s press conference was held so that we could speak with Mingione’s newest assistant coach, Chase Slone , previously the associate head coach and hitting coach at Wright State where the Raiders ranked 10th nationally in scoring in 2024.

Sloane’s college roommate at Southern Illinois was current Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Colin Holderman , who had been recruited by Mingione when he was an assistant for John Cohen at Mississippi State. In fact, Holderman committed to transfer to Mississippi State but signed professionally after being drafted by the New York Mets.

“It’s crazy the way things work out,” said Sloane, who was a camper at Mississippi State before reconnecting with Mingione at a Futures game two years ago. “Everybody’s been very welcoming. Everything you see on the field, it translates behind the scenes. Everything is very genuine.”

And these are crazy times in college athletics. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey confirmed this week that the roster limit for college baseball moving forward will probably be in the “mid-30s” and that there will be full roster scholarships.

“I’ve often said that the hardest part of my job has been managing the 11.7 scholarships and the 32 guys on (the team),” Mingione said Thursday. “So that’s gonna make my job dramatically easier. … The one thing I’ve learned, and you guys know this about college athletics, when you’re in it and doing what we do, you have to be flexible and you have to be willing to adapt.”

Mingione has adapted so well that he earned both SEC and national coach of the year honors. To honor that, some of his players presented the coach with specially made Nike shoes, inscribed with both the coaching awards and the names of wife Christen and son Reeves.

“I just want to thank the community. They’ve gone out of their way just to thank me for what this baseball team was able to provide them and their families,” said Mingione, who said he wanted to thank the fans who traveled to Omaha. “So if you can hear my voice or see me now, just let me tell you how much we appreciate you guys because you guys helped make that a great experience for our players.”

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