AP. Champion product and Arkansas catcher Michael Turner leads off first base during a game against North Carolina in the NCAA Super Regionals.

It’s a call that every athlete someday dreams of receiving — getting drafted to play professional sports.

On Monday, former Champion High School, Kent State and Arkansas star Michael Turner received his call and was drafted by the Chicago White Sox with the 281st overall pick in the ninth round of the 2022 MLB Draft.

“A lot of tears, a lot of emotion, just finally getting that lifelong dream to come true,” Turner said. “It was definitely a stressful few hours, but I’m ecstatic to finally have gotten that call.”

The draft process for Turner has been “wild,” as he puts it. Prior to being drafted, he had been in contact with 22 teams in the days and weeks leading up to it.

After the first two rounds concluded Sunday night, Turner spent most of the day Monday fielding more calls from teams to talk numbers, hear offers and negotiate terms.

“Once it started getting in the later rounds between five and 10, I was getting call after call and I was having to call some guys back since I was missing calls because I was on the phone with somebody else,” Turner said.

Then, the White Sox called.

“They called me and offered and we negotiated a little bit and then I said I’m in,” Turner said. “They hung up and I texted them and said, ‘Are we going this round?’ And they said, ‘Yeah, you’re our next pick, get ready’ and that was that.”

After four years at Kent State, Turner used the final year of his eligibility and transferred to Arkansas for this past season, where he helped lead the Razorbacks to their third appearance in the College World Series in the past four years.

As the team’s catcher, Turner finished this past season with the second highest batting average on the team (.323) and the most total hits (83).

Turner isn’t the only Razorback that the White Sox drafted. One of the best pitchers of this class, the White Sox drafted Peyton Pallette in the second round.

However, Turner never got to catch for Pallette because Pallette missed the entire 2022 season with a ligament injury that required Tommy John surgery. Now, Turner will finally get that chance with both of them now being part of the White Sox organization.

“I knew (Pallette) was a big-time prospect when I committed to Arkansas and I couldn’t wait to catch for him but I never got the opportunity to because of his injury,” Turner said. “So in the end it worked out.”

Throughout the draft process, Turner was able to lean on his father, Brian, for advice and input, thanks to his father’s prior experience as a professional baseball player himself. He was drafted by the Yankees in the 40th round of the 1989 MLB Draft out of Grand Valley High School and played eight years in the Yankees, Mets and Twins’ minor league systems.

“He helped me a little bit, just giving me some insider information,” Turner said. “But I definitely have to give him a lot of credit, not just for the draft, because he’s definitely molded me into who I am today, especially on the field and off the field. He helped with negotiation and just a little bit of everything.”

Right now, Turner’s just waiting for the conclusion of the final 10 rounds of the draft on Tuesday to find out more about his role and timeline with the White Sox organization going forward.

“I think I’ll have to go to Birmingham for a little mini camp — do a physical, drug tests and all that stuff and then it all depends from there,” Turner said.

nmadhavan@tribtoday.com