Head coach Alonzo Hampton has the extra quarterback he wanted to compete for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s starting job this fall.
Dorian Smith, a sophomore from Georgia, committed to UAPB late Monday night. He played last season at Huntingdon College, an NCAA Division III program in Montgomery, Alabama.
After redshirting in 2022, he saw limited playing time in 2023. He completed 16 of 24 passes for 223 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed six times for 72 yards and a touchdown with one fumble.
The bulk of his action came from Huntingdon’s 56-8 road win at Greensboro on Oct 21. Smith started the game and completed 11 of 16 passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns. He carried the ball four times for 79 yards and a score.
Smith will be the fourth quarterback on the UAPB roster. Returner Mekhi Hagens and junior college transfer DJ Stevenson competed in the spring, and recent Pine Bluff High School graduate Landon Holcomb will join the team for fall camp.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Quarterback has been a big need for UAPB since Skyler Perry’s departure following the 2022 season, after which the Golden Lions hired Hampton. Three quarterbacks, including Hagens, shared playing time in 2023. Two transferred after the season.
Another big post-spring need is offensive line. Hampton said UAPB played three walk-ons with the starting group in April’s spring game.
On May 31, UAPB secured a commitment from NCAA Division II transfer offensive lineman Dylan Booker. Booker, an Ohio native, is listed at 6-foot-3, 285 pounds. He spent three seasons at Notre Dame College in Ohio, which closed at the end of the 2024 spring semester. He appeared in three games in 2022 but did not play in 2021 or 2023. He won two Ohio state championships in high school.
He is the second offensive lineman to commit to UAPB since the end of the spring, joining graduate transfer Steven Wakefield from Division II Savannah State. Wakefield is listed at 6-feet-1, 280 pounds.
Hampton said after the spring game he wanted to add another 15-20 players. Smith’s commitment makes 14. That number includes three Football Bowl Subdivision transfers with four Football Championship Subdivision, two Division II, one Division III, three junior college and one high school commitments.
UAPB has mostly added offensive players but did get a defensive commitment from junior college edge rusher Benjie Guar on May 23. The Sussex County (N.J.) transfer made 37 tackles last season with four sacks and six tackles for loss.
Roughly half of the late spring additions have come at the offensive skill positions, most recently junior college wide receiver and running back D’Tyrian McCoy. In one season at Navarro College in Texas, McCoy rushed 74 times for 455 yards with five touchdowns. He also caught 13 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown.
At tight end, junior college transfer Livingston Coaty Jr. caught five passes for 86 yards last season after catching 10 for 86 yards and a touchdown his freshman season.
The Golden Lions also added a kicker, Austin Peay transfer Braden Ducharme, to compete with Trey Glymph. Ducharme did not play in his one season at Austin Peay.
Hampton’s second season in charge at UAPB begins Aug. 29 when the Golden Lions face Arkansas at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.