COLLEGE PARK, Ga. – The best season in seven years ended earlier than the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff had hoped, but men’s basketball coach Solomon Bozeman said this team changed the culture at UAPB.
“People don’t look at UAPB as (a) cakewalk no more,” Bozeman said. “They ain’t coming in to get easy wins, and that’s a credit to these guys and those guys in that locker room that brung it every single day.”
UAPB ended its season with an 84-81 loss to Southern University in the SWAC tournament in the Greater Atlanta area on Thursday, its first trip to the tournament since 2021.
The Golden Lions entered as the No. 6 seed after finishing in a four-way tie for fourth place in the league with a 10-8 record, their best conference record since 2019. Since that season, UAPB had finished with three SWAC wins three times and only reached eight once.
This turnaround season included a regular season win against Southern, which finished tied for second, and a 3-3 record against the three teams UAPB finished tied with. The Golden Lions also took regular season champion Bethune-Cookman to overtime in their lone meeting this season.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
This run came with a reworked roster after most of last year’s players transferred out. One of the newcomers, Abilene Christian transfer Quion Williams, said being part of this team was a good experience.
“I would say it was (an) amazing, amazing experience coming from what my past was,” Williams said. “It was just amazing experience that allowed me to, I’d say, get my love back for the game.”
University of Texas at San Antonio transfer Jaquan Scott agreed.
“It was good,” Scott said. “Piggy back off what Q said, my past experience, coming here to play, rebuild myself, rebrand myself. Able to be with Coach Solo who trust me on and off the court, helped me grow off the court. … I made brothers for life.”
Williams started all 32 games for UAPB this season, while Scott started 30 and played in 31. Both came to UAPB after bouncing around various schools.
Scott played two years of junior college ball before going to Mississippi State and UTSA. Williams played at Oklahoma State for two years before transferring to Abilene Christian. He left Abilene after an arrest in his native Jonesboro last May, at which point Bozeman brought him to Pine Bluff.
Bozeman took time during Thursday’s postgame press conference to praise both players for what they did for UAPB despite their pasts.
“Recruiting this guy (Scott), he was considered a cancer,” Bozeman said. “Every coach I talked to, cancer, cancer, cancer. ‘Don’t take him.’ Everybody. High risk, high reward. When I tell you, he might have had three or four bad days. … Other than that, man, this dude was awesome to coach. Like, awesome to coach. Awesome to coach.
“This dude right here (Williams), he got a story to tell. … Been to jail twice. Great to coach. Unbelievable leader. Like, unbelievable. Brung it every single day. Changed the culture of the program, because he brung it every single day. I can’t ask for nothing.
“I thought both of these guys came here, they rebranded themselves. I have nothing but great things to say about these two guys,” he said. “I call them Shaq and Kobe. They fuss and fight every now and then, but at the end of the day, they both want to win.”
Williams finished his college career by earning first-team All-SWAC honors. He led the league in assists with 5.4 per game, finished second in rebounds per game with 8.3, and ranked sixth in points per game with 17.9. Scott ranked sixth in rebounding and eighth in scoring. Bozeman said both have long professional careers ahead of them.
For UAPB, it is once again time to reload. Williams and Scott were both seniors alongside fellow starter Alex Mirhosseini. Every forward on the roster was listed as a senior.
If Bozeman can avoid the mass transfer portal exits he has dealt with throughout his tenure in Pine Bluff, he could still bring back starting guards Trevon Payton and Milhan Charles alongside sixth man Ramel Lloyd Jr.
Bozeman said recruiting is about relationships, and he feels confident he can find some experienced players to mix with the returners to continue building on what the Golden Lions accomplished this season.
“When you do things the right way, man, people are always going to trust you with their kids or with their players and stuff like that,” Bozeman said. “I’m a big believer in getting older. You gotta get older, but we got some freshmen, man, that can play. Like Jai’chaunn Hayes, Harrison Pickett, those guys can play, and they were able to go against these guys every single day.”