State sports briefs

FOOTBALL Arkansas to honor 1964 national champions

Arkansas will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its 1964 national championship under Coach Frank Broyles to highlight its home football schedule this fall, the university announced on Monday.

The Razorbacks have designated their Oct. 11 game against Alabama as the weekend of celebration for the school’s national championship in football. Arkansas went 11-0 that season and was crowned national champions by the Football Writers Association of America, which selected its champion after the bowls.

Ironically, Alabama, also 10-0 in the 1964 regular season, was named national champion by the Associated Press before the Hogs’ Southwest Conference rival, Texas, downed the Crimson Tide 21-17 in the Orange Bowl. Arkansas defeated Nebraska 10-7 in the Cotton Bowl to close out its undefeated season. Arkansas last commemorated its 1964 national title at its 40th anniversary in its 2004 game against Texas.

Arkansas also designated its Oct. 25 game against Alabama-Birmingham as its homecoming contest. That game won’t have quite the attraction it could have as second-year Blazers Coach Garrick McGee, the former Arkansas offensive coordinator, was officially announced on Monday as offensive coordinator at Louisville under Coach Bobby Petrino.

  • Tom Murphy

Heckendorf to coach ASU tight ends

Arkansas State Coach Blake Anderson announced the latest addition to his first coaching staff, naming Keith Heckendorf his tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator.

Heckendorf joins Anderson’s staff after spending the last three seasons working with him at North Carolina, where Anderson was offensive coordinator and Heckendorf was an offensive quality control coach. Before that, Heckendorf served as offensive coordinator at NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Western Carolina, and he also spent three seasons at Nebraska as a quality control coach and a graduate assistant.

Heckendorf is the seventh acknowledged coach to Anderson’s staff, and sixth announced by the school, along with Walt Bell (offensive coordinator and quarterbacks), Joe Cauthen (defensive coordinator and linebackers), Anthony Tucker (running backs), Luke Paschall (wide receivers and special teams coordinator) and Glen Elarbee (offensive line coach).

Anderson has also acknowledged Brian Early’s addition to the staff, but his role has not yet been announced. Early spent last year as a defensive quality control coach at Arkansas.

BASKETBALL Gault honored by Sun Belt

Taylor Gault combined to score 50 points in the UALR women’s basketball team’s two conference victories over the weekend, the most points the junior guard has scored in consecutive games.

For her efforts, Gault was named Monday as the Sun Belt Conference’s Player of the Week for the first time this season.

Gault scored a season-high 27 points in Wednesday victory over South Alabama while making 3 of 5 three pointers and 9 of 17 shots from the floor. She then followed that with 23 points in Saturday’s victory over Troy.

After being held scorless in a Jan. 2 loss at Texas State, Gault has scored at least 20 points in three consecutive games, the first such streak of her career, and she’s averaging 17.5 points per game in four Sun Belt games.

Harding men win in overtime

Sophomore guard Jacob Gibson made the game-winning layup and freshman forward Will Francis scored a career-high 32 points as Harding’s men (7-6, 4-3 Great American Conference) beat Southeastern Oklahoma State (4-8, 2-5) 88-86 on Monday at Rhodes Field House in Searcy.

Gibson’s layup came with six seconds left. The Savage Storm turned the ball over on their last possession and then fouled Gibson, who made 1 of 2 free throws.

Francis was 10 of 21 from the field and made 5 three-pointers. Hayden Johnson added 15 points for the Bisons.

Urald King led Southeastern Oklahoma with 29 points.

Celsor lifts Harding women to victory

Senior forward Kristen Celsor had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead Harding’s women (15-0, 7-0 Great American Conference) to a 80-62 victory Monday over Southeastern Oklahoma State (8-5, 6-1) at Rhodes Field House in Searcy.

Celsor, who was named GAC player of the week Monday, shot 7 of 13 from the field, including 3 three-pointers. It was the fifth game this season that she’s scored at least 20 points. Freshman guard A’ndrea Haney scored a career-high 13 points while junior guard Shana Holmes added 12. Junior forward Arielle Saunders tied a season-high with 15 rebounds.

Emily Williams led the Savage Storm with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

UAFS’ Martin honored by Heartland

Arkansas-Fort Smith sophomore Kenny Martin was named the Heartland Conference Men’s Player of the Week after averaging 21 points, 12.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in two games last week.

He scored 15 points against Oklahoma Panhandle State in an 84-68 victory. He also scored 27 points against Newman in another victory.

ATHLETICS

Sheffield, Williams named to UALR hall

Former all-district baseball player Ron Sheffield and former all-Trans America Athletic Conference basketball player Vaughn Williams will be inducted into the UALR Athletics Hall of Fame on Feb. 8, the school announced Monday.

Sheffield was the school’s first black letterman when he played for the Trojans in 1969-1971, hitting .346 as a center-fielder who was named NAIA All-District in 1971.

An Ohio native, Sheffield spent four years in the military after graduating high school, including a stint at the Little Rock Air Force Base, after which time he enrolled at UALR in 1968. Sheffield, a former Arkansas Supreme Court justice, still lives in Little Rock.

Williams played four seasons for UALR while helping it make the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division I. He still holds the UALR career record for steals (259) and assists (534), and his 71 steals during the 1981-1982 season stand as the school’s single-season record.

Williams, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native, averaged 15.5 points as a senior and is ninth all-time at UALR with 1,237 points.

Sheffield and Williams will be honored at halftime of the UALR men’s basketball team’s Feb. 8 game against Western Kentucky.

Sports, Pages 19 on 01/14/2014

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