After 2-year hiatus, UAPB returning to Little Rock

The Arkansas-Pine Bluff football team is coming back to Little Rock.

At least for one day.

UAPB SCHEDULE

DATE;OPPONENT;TIME

Sept. 6;S.C. State;2:30 p.m.*

Sept. 12;Morehouse College;6 p.m.

Sept. 19;Texas Southern;6 p.m.

Sept. 26;at Alabama A&M;1 p.m.

Oct. 3;Alcorn State;4 p.m.^

Oct. 15;Alabama State;6 p.m.

Oct. 24;at Jackson State;2 p.m.

Oct. 31;at Prairie View A&M;1 p.m.

Nov. 7;Southern;2:30 p.m.

Nov. 14;Grambling State;2:30 p.m.

Nov. 21;at Miss. Valley State;1 p.m.

*at Orlando, Fla.

^at Alcorn state

A group of UAPB officials that included Chancellor Laurence B. Alexander, Athletic Director Lonza Hardy and Coach Monte Coleman visited Little Rock on Wednesday to promote the school's football game this fall at War Memorial Stadium.

UAPB will host defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Alcorn State on Oct. 3 in its first visit to War Memorial Stadium since 2012.

"It's been a long time coming," Hardy said. "We didn't just want to play a game, we wanted to play a marquee game. We believe there is no better marquee matchup than the Golden Lions playing against the defending champions of the Southwestern Athletic Conference."

Whether UAPB will return to Little Rock on an annual basis remains to be seen.

Before ending the string in 2012, UAPB had played games at War Memorial for eight consecutive years. The game against Alcorn State will be its 14th there since 1998. The Delta Classic 4 Literacy folded after the 2012 game following a seven-year run, and UAPB was scheduled to play Arkansas State at War Memorial in 2013, but ASU moved the game to its campus in Jonesboro.

That left UAPB out of Little Rock for two seasons. No future dates are currently planned, but Hardy said a successful October trip could lead to more games as UAPB tries to put an emphasis on recruiting football players and students from Pulaski County.

"That is something that will be determined depending on the success of this game," Hardy said. "I think ticket sales, of course, will play a role in that. Our evaluation of the impact of playing in Little Rock. How successful we are in touching the potential student base here in Little Rock. We not only want to play in front of potential student-athletes in this city, but regular students as well."

Hardy said last fall that one of the hangups of playing at War Memorial Stadium was the rent, but Wednesday he said local sponsors had taken care of the $25,000 rental fee.

Hardy said this year also made sense because UAPB has six scheduled home games. That made it easy to give up one in Pine Bluff, and he said Alcorn State didn't mind a slightly longer bus ride to avoid playing on a conference opponent's home field.

"I think this was an ideal situation for us," Hardy said.

Coleman called War Memorial Stadium UAPB's "second home" and said he's received calls from alumni in Little Rock the past two seasons asking about when the Golden Lions would return. Coleman has enjoyed playing in Little Rock so much that he said he didn't mind moving a game against the defending SWAC champion from his home field.

"We're 40 minutes away from Pine Bluff, so this is our second home site," he said. "It's not like we're going to St. Louis or Chicago. It's going to be like playing in Golden Lion Stadium, just a bigger environment."

The game also will serve as a sort of early season litmus test for Coleman's team. UAPB opens the season Sept. 6 against South Carolina State in Orlando, Fla., before playing Division II Morehouse College, a home game against Texas Southern and at Alabama A&M.

"With this game here, being that they are the SWAC champs, we should know what type of football team we have," Coleman said. "I think the timing is good, and I think the venue is good."

In addition to the game, Hardy said there will be a battle of the bands following the game.

UAPB also plans to hold a fundraiser Oct. 1 at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock to raise money for football scholarships. Tickets will be $250, and he said the event will include Keith Jackson and some of Coleman's former Washington Redskins teammates like Art Monk and Charles Mann.

Sports on 07/02/2015

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