LITTLE ROCK – A short trip up Interstate 530 awaits the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff next month as basketball season quickly approaches.
UAPB and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock announced Monday their men’s and women’s basketball teams will meet in preseason exhibition games on Oct. 17 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
The women’s game will tip off at 6 p.m., with the men’s game to follow at approximately 8 p.m. in an event dubbed the “Central Arkansas Tip-Off Classic.”
Tickets will be $10 and can be purchased online or through either school’s ticket office. Tickets will also be sold at the Jack Stephens Center box office on game day. Admission will be free for students from either campus.
UAPB athletic director Chris Robinson said playing this as an exhibition rather than a regular season event allows the schools to meet up without affecting the non-conference schedule, which often includes various road games with Power Four opponents.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“Of course, that comes with a little money guaranteed with that, as well,” Robinson said. “We wanted to, I guess, exhibit our talent right here within the state, but at the same time give us the opportunity to go do the things we need to do for budgetary purposes, as well.”
Neither of UAPB’s teams have announced this year’s schedules yet, but recent seasons have seen only a handful of in-state Division I matchups.
The Golden Lions have played Central Arkansas each of the past two seasons, while the Lady Lions did not play any of the Arkansas Division I schools last season, though they have in prior years. The women defeated Arkansas but lost to Arkansas State in the 2023-24 campaign.
Out-of-state road trips typically dominate both team’s non-conference schedules, so UAPB women’s coach Erica Leak said having a short trip to Little Rock will be nice.
“We can probably get up morning of, have a shootaround in our own gym before we come 40 minutes up the road,” Leak said. “It’s an opportunity to be home and to compete against quality talent, and so, I’m really excited about staying close but getting the competitiveness, getting the work, seeing where we are. It’s a great gauge to see where we are before the conference and the season starts.”
The UAPB and Little Rock men’s teams last played in 2018, while the women last played in 2021.
This will be Leak’s second season at UAPB, while men’s coach Solomon Bozeman is entering his sixth. Both teams are looking to bounce back after missing the SWAC tournament last year.
The men get their starting point guard, Trejon Ware, back this year after he missed all of last season with injury. Ware said the Golden Lions are excited to get the season started next month against the Trojans.
“We been putting in work for like two months,” Ware said. “We just ready to get the ball on the road. … It’s going to help us get ready quick, because it’s going to be here faster than we know it. Then, we just get ready to go.”
These matchups will include local Arkansas talent on both sides.
Both the UAPB and Little Rock men signed players from Benton High School’s 2025 Class 5A boys’ basketball state championship team. UAPB signed Harrison Pickett, while the Trojans landed Terrion Burgess. The Golden Lions also added Jai’Chaunn Hayes from Hot Springs, who previously played in Jefferson County with White Hall before transferring for his senior year.
The UAPB women brought in junior college transfer Jasmine Davis from Arkansas State-Three Rivers. Davis, a Little Rock Parkview graduate, said she is excited to play the Trojans in her hometown.
“I grew up here, so it was always a big deal when I was younger for two in-state teams to play against each other,” Davis said. “So, I’m very excited to be a part of it this year.”
This exhibition will also be a homecoming for UAPB men’s coach Solomon Bozeman. During his days as a Trojan player, he hit the game-winning three pointer against North Texas to win the 2011 Sun Belt Conference title and send Little Rock to the NCAA tournament.
Solomon Bozeman said Little Rock is home.
“It’s going to be a different feeling, obviously, being on the other side, but when that ball tips off, man, I’m a competitor,” Bozeman said. “My guys are competitors. I know it’s exhibition, but it’s (Little Rock head coach) Darrell Walker on this other side. I know he wants to get a win. We want to get a win, so it’s going to be really competitive. I can’t wait, man. I’m excited, and our guys are excited, too.”
The NCAA Division I basketball regular season begins Nov. 3.