Roland senior baseball pitcher following brother’s footsteps to Arkansas

If Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn thought when Jaxon Wiggins graduated and ended up getting drafted this summer by the Chicago Cubs that he would not have another Wiggins on the roster, he would be wrong.

Wiggins’ brother, Roland Rangers senior Carson Wiggins, made sure that there would be at least one more Wiggins for the veteran Arkansas baseball coach to go through his program as he signed with the Razorbacks in a signing ceremony Wednesday morning at Roland High School commons area.

“It’s a great feeling,” Wiggins said about signing with the Hogs. “Not a lot of people get to do it. I just couldn’t be more happy.”

The Roland senior pitcher is just as excited about playing at the next level at a Division I program.

“It’s very exciting,” he said. “I’m going to get to go to school and get to play with the best of the best. I think it’s the best competition in the country. I don’t think you can ask for much more.”

Naturally, it also helped Wiggins’ decision to sign with the Razorbacks that his older brother was a Hog, too.

“It was a big influence,” the Arkansas signee said.

However, there was more than just his brother’s influence in wanting Wiggins to sign with UofA.

“I mainly want to go there because of the facilities, the coaches and the culture,” he said. “Those were the main focuses.”

“This is what they work for,” Roland baseball coach Darrell Wiggins said. “It’s what they strive for. I know he had big goals in mind. With big brother (Jaxon) already been through the program. It’s made him more excited and work harder to make that happen.”

It’s special for the Roland baseball coach because not only is it one of his players signing to go play college baseball, but the signee is his son.

“I’m excited,” Darrell Wiggins said. “I knew he was special when he was little. Anytime your son makes it to the Division I level in any sport, it makes parents proud.”

Whether he gets to make a difference immediately or down the line, Carson Wiggins is set for the next level.

“I have no idea (if I’ll get to play as a true freshman),” he said. “I’m more than excited to get going with it.”

“He’s something special,” Darrell Wiggins said. “I’m looking forward to everything he’ll do this spring, and I’m looking forward to what the future holds for him.”