Brown, Cross return for 6th season at UAM

Demilon Brown had thrown for 1,046 yards and 11 touchdowns through four games, and his fifth season at the University of Arkansas at Monticello was on pace to be his best season yet.

Then he suffered a broken throwing hand, his right, adding another interruption to a college career that began as the Great American Conference’s Freshman of the Year. The Boll Weevils’ 2020 season was canceled due to the covid-19 pandemic, and Brown sustained a collarbone injury that ended his 2022 season after eight games.

“As far as my hand, I just learned not to take anything for granted,” Brown said.

The Rivercrest High School graduate earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education, but needed a medical redshirt to return for a sixth season in Monticello, hoping to finally leave his mark on the program with its first winning regular season since 2018. The Weevils’ 2024 season begins Sept. 5 at home against Northwestern Oklahoma State.

While many student-athletes who graduate go elsewhere to complete their college eligibility — and some undergraduates take advantage of relaxed transfer rules to play immediately — Brown has become a mainstay at UAM.

“I met these guys and have had a long relationship since 2019,” he said. “I developed a relationship with the coaches and the people of Monticello.”

Wide receiver Isaiah Cross of Texarkana, Texas, came with Brown to UAM and is staying with him.

“Really, him getting a medical redshirt was the reason I came back. So, I’m getting my master’s, too,” Cross said.

The business finance graduate, like Brown, is pursuing a master’s in coaching. Cross was given a redshirt after appearing in one game as a true freshman and hasn’t missed one since the canceled 2020 season.

Hud Jackson, UAM’s 14th-year coach, didn’t shy away from the issue of transfers. At least four of his skill players from last season transferred to Division I schools — three to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and another to the University of Central Arkansas — although Jackson did not address their situations in particular. UAM competes in Division II.

This spring, the NCAA allowed student-athletes to transfer more than once and be immediately eligible to compete without having to sit out a year.

“Nowadays, with the dynamics of NCAA football, you’ve got coaches contacting your players not even indirectly (but) directly,” Jackson said. “I have a tendency of keeping my business to my business and try to get into a season. I believe we live in six-month intervals. We can have a great season with a brand new locker room we got, weight room, training room. All of that is nice. We’re renovating our stadium in 2026. It doesn’t matter.

“… Coaches are still going to come in and try to take your players and, sometimes, they succeed. The sad part is that kids go to different places and they’re just a person, when they can be here and be a big-time producer for our program. That’s the frustration part. But it is what it is. It’s what NCAA football is about nowadays, and our coaches have to be able to handle that.”

UAM signed a large class of high school graduates for this season — 42, to be exact — but reached down to the junior college ranks as well as the NCAA transfer portal, launched in 2018 to track student-athletes interested in changing schools.

“We’ve got better players in a lot of capacity,” Jackson said. “Obviously, the guy that makes it work is Demilon Brown. Having him healthy is a big deal.”

Having Brown’s playmaking ability is just as important.

He was averaging 261.5 passing yards per game at the time of his injury last season, well above his 216.6 clip in 2021, when he threw for 17 touchdowns and 2,383 yards. For his career, Brown has completed 433 of 743 passes (58.2%) for 5,843 yards (seventh-best all time at UAM) and 47 touchdowns (eighth all-time) against 23 interceptions.

Brown is a proven ballcarrier who ranks among the Weevils’ top-10 rushers all-time. With 2,424 career yards and 27 touchdowns, he needs just 9 yards to pass Terry Lee (1972-74) for ninth all-time and is 372 yards away from topping Scott Buisson (2007-10) for most by a quarterback and third all-time.

Last season was Brown’s first not to lead the Weevils in rushing. Gary Ferman had 281 yards on 59 carries in seven games, although Brown had the highest per-game average at 55.75 (223 yards on 35 carries).

Cross started the 2023 season with 100-yard receiving games in wins over Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southwestern Oklahoma State. He would lead the Weevils with 497 yards on 37 catches (3 touchdowns) and was one of seven players on the team with 100 or more yards on the season.

Three of the transfers and a senior were among those seven players, meaning Jackson had to replenish that corps in the offseason.

“We did go out and we upgraded at the wide receiver position,” he said.

Six of the receivers on UAM’s 2024 roster are transfers from junior colleges. Senior Jordan Mansfield of Bastrop, La., and Cross are the only players at the position in their fourth year or higher on the team.

“It makes me be a better leader, having the most experience, having to be out there and teach them where (to go) and bringing guys along,” Cross said. “But pretty much all the guys are experienced, and they’re willing to go out there and do work.”