Smart to be Arkansas baseball's next volunteer assistant

Taylor Smart played at Tennessee during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
Taylor Smart played at Tennessee during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

FAYETTEVILLE — Dave Van Horn has found his next volunteer assistant coach.

Taylor Smart, who served as a graduate assistant at Arizona last season, will join Arkansas’ staff in mid-August, Van Horn said. Smart is currently an assistant coach for the Santa Barbara Foresters in the California Collegiate League.

Van Horn said there was a lot of interest in the open volunteer assistant position following Craig Parry’s departure. Parry accepted a job as hitting coach at Abilene Christian earlier this month.

“Taylor is a young, and up and coming guy and (joining Arkansas) wasn’t a major obstacle for him,” Van Horn said. “He wanted to work in the SEC again. He wasn’t a volunteer, but he was in with the team and helped run their camps. The Santa Barbara team is running away with the league. They are just whipping everybody, and I imagine they are going to be in the playoffs for awhile.”

A Washington native, Smart played for coach Dave Serrano at Tennessee. He hit .267 with two home runs and 19 RBIs as a junior with the Volunteers and later batted .292 as a senior, totaling four home runs and 29 RBIs. Following his final season in Knoxville, Smart was a 26th round selection of the Seattle Mariners.

Prior to Arizona, Smart was as a student assistant for the Volunteers in 2017. He assisted infielders, worked with hitters and served as the team's first base coach.

Van Horn said at this time next year, Division I programs may be able to hire another full-time coach, meaning the volunteer assistant position would be removed.

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