On a day when the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff struck gold with 12 more football signees, third-season Coach Doc Gamble quite naturally unveiled his newest Golden Lions to fans at Saracen Casino's Legends Sports Bar.
Gamble and his staff have landed 25 Lions this offseason, replenishing a team that was banged up especially on the defensive side during a 2-9 campaign. The Lions, however, landed a majority of recruits on offense for this signing period.
That was not by design, Gamble suggested.
"We focus on all areas that we need," said Gamble, who is 6-10 overall in Pine Bluff. "We've got a few more spots that we need to fill. We've got a good crew of offensive linemen back, but we've got to add some more numbers to our defensive line. We're still a little bit short with our wideouts, but we've got some good quality wideouts who are going to come in and compete. And our defensive backfield, we've got to shore that up."
The Lions will have to get a little bigger, but they have a lot of team speed, Gamble commented.
Gamble said 18 players are now on campus, although 13 have signed in December. He expects to sign four more players after Wednesday.
Among the latest signees is 6-foot-4 Mesquite (Texas) High School quarterback Chancellor Edwards, who threw for 1,455 yards and 16 touchdowns last fall.
Edwards and December signee Mekhi Hagens of St. Louis, who last played at Cisco College in Texas, will challenge four-year starter Skyler Perry for the starting role. Perry was SWAC Impact Player of the Year during the spring 2021 season but struggled to replicate his success during the fall, completing only 50.3% of his passes and throwing for 1,786 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Xzavier Vaughn, who shared time under center with Perry last fall, entered the transfer portal, leaving Jalen Macon as a returning backup.
Hagens passed for more than 2,000 yards and 15 touchdowns at Cisco, according to Nord.
"Mekhi, if you go back and look at his history, had 15 or 16 offers," Gamble said. "That was just a relationship I had before. He came back to us and said he wanted to come in and compete."
Gamble added to his Cincinnati pipeline 5-foot-10, 200-pound multi-position threat Jacob Harrison and 6-foot-4, 210-pound outside linebacker Anas Luqman. Kierston Rogers of Mobile, Ala., who went for 3,000 yards in high school, will look to become the next featured running back with graduate student Kierre Crossley (481 yards last season) completing his eligibility.
"I'd say he could have gotten a lot more, but their team did very well," UAPB tight ends coach Spencer Treadwell said. "He got pulled out of the first quarter and the first half in a lot of games. To say he got 3,000 yards, still, is pretty incredible. He already looks college-ready. He's a guy who finishes with a lot of aggression when he's getting through guys, and you'll notice on film, he's quite aggressive as well."
UAPB's spring game is scheduled for April 22.
UAPB February football signees
The recent UAPB football signees with name, position, height, weight, hometown and previous school
High school signees
Chancellor Edwards, quarterback, 6-4, 195, Mesquite, Texas (Mesquite)
Jewel Fletcher, athlete, 5-11, 160, Wichita Falls, Texas (Hirschi)
James "Trey" Glymph, kicker, 5-7, 170, Alpharetta, Ga. (Denmark)
Jacob Harrison, athlete, 5-10, 200, Cincinnati (Shroder)
Tyree Johnson, linebacker, 5-8, 195, Columbus, Ohio (Gahanna Lincoln)
Curtis Keels, wide receiver, 5-11, 160, Detroit (Redford)
Kenji Lewis, wide receiver, 6-1, 180, Memphis (East)
Anas Luqman, outside linebacker/athlete, 6-4, 210, Cincinnati (Princeton)
Cameron Roetheford, offensive guard/defensive tackle, 6-4, 312, Detroit (Martin Luther King)
Kierston Rogers, running back, 6-0, 215, Mobile, Ala. (Theodore)
Derrick White, wide receiver, 5-11, 168, Atlanta (Creekside)
Transfer signee
Tristan Ballard, junior, tight end, 6-6, 240, Youngstown, Ohio (Wheeling University)
UAPB December football signees
High school signees
Jaylen Francis, outside linebacker, 6-8, 340, Detroit (Hazel Park HS)
Michael Riley, linebacker, 6-3, 210, Texarkana, Texas (Liberty-Eylau HS)
Tyler Shaw, defensive back, 6-2, 175, Memphis (PURE Youth Athletics Alliance)
Rodney Wallis, linebacker, 6-0, 160, New Orleans (Livingstone College)
Samuel Young III, offensive lineman, 6-5, 290, Bloomington, Ind. (South HS)
Transfer signees
Javien Clemmer, sophomore, wide receiver, 6-3, weight N/A, Camden (New Mexico State U.)
Ronny Evans, junior, defensive lineman, 6-1, 285, High Point, N.C. (Navarro College)
Grant Ewell Jr., sophomore, defensive back, 5-10, 190, Portland, Ore. (Butte College)
Mekhi Hagens, sophomore, quarterback, 6-3, 200, St. Louis (Cisco College)
Marcus Hill
Derrell Holston, junior, defensive back, 6-2, 200, Stone Mountain, Ga. (Highland CC)
Syncere Jones, sophomore, defensive back, 6-1, 200, Cincinnati (Hocking CC)
Isaiah Ward, redshirt sophomore, linebacker, 6-2, 230, Sacramento, Calif. (Butte College)
Johnny Williams, sophomore, running back, 6-0, 2-5, Fairfield, Calif. (Butte College)