Diamond Hogs 2020 Signee Spotlight: Joe T. Robinson INF Zac White

A pair of injuries forced Zac White to wait longer than most college baseball hopefuls for his dream offer.

First it was a torn shoulder and then the Joe T. Robinson product broke his foot, but he finally had a chance to get in front of Dave Van Horn and Nate Thompson last August.

White made the most of the opportunity. At the end of the event, he had a 20-minute conversation with Van Horn and then he got a follow-up call from the head coach and Thompson during lunch later that day. They made it clear that they liked what they saw and wanted him to play for the Razorbacks.

“Honestly, for me, it was less of a surprise - I don’t want that to sound bad - but it was less of a surprise and more of a weight off my shoulders,” White said. “I had been looking forward to that moment for so long. … I just have enough confidence in myself to where I felt when the time came, it would be good for me.”

It didn’t take long for White (5-11.5, 180) to pull the trigger on a commitment and three months later, the dream became a reality when he officially signed with Arkansas.

At that point, one of the largest Razorback family trees gained another branch. He follows in the footsteps of great grandfather Harold “Greasy” Rees, grandfather John Reese, uncle John Aaron Rees, father David White and older brother John David White as athletes at Arkansas, with all but his father - who played golf - being football players.

Just a year older than Zac, John David is a walk-on wide receiver who got to dress out and even appeared in a couple of games as a true freshman, catching two passes for 27 yards against LSU. Seeing him play for the Razorbacks was inspiring to White.

“It was also an extra motivation for me because for a time, of course my dream school is Arkansas, but I was open to any school,” White said. “I just wanted to go play college baseball, but when I saw him up there, I was like, ‘You know what, that’s my home. This is where I belong.’”

With his college commitment and signing behind him, he shifted his focus to helping Joe T. Robinson do some damage during his senior year.

Having sometimes struggled with worrying about personal numbers and statistics because he had his sights set on playing at the next level, White no longer had an uncertain future and was zeroed in on the goal of winning a Class 4A state title.