BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A mixture of returning stars and new transfers has the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s defense front looking ready for the season.
Senior defensive end Elijah Jenkins said Tuesday at SWAC Media Day in Birmingham, Ala.,, that there’s no limit to how good the Golden Lions could be this fall.
“We just want to focus on the things we need to focus on as a team,” Jenkins said. “Build with the team, love on each other, knowing we have to have the will to play football and play with each other. Take it day by day, take it moment by moment. Yes, of course you want to win the SWAC championship, but you just want to take it day by day and enjoy the journey, so that’s just focusing on that.”
Jenkins transferred to UAPB in 2023 after playing two years at Pearl River Community College in Mississippi. He made 16 tackles last season with half a tackle for loss. He played behind other defensive ends last season, but with many of them now gone, he is set to play a bigger role this fall. In his final junior college season, he made 5.5 tackles for loss, with 4.5 sacks.
Head coach Alonzo Hampton said Jenkins’ first year playing in Division I was an adjustment for him, but Jenkins has proven to be consistent.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“You know what you’re going to get with him,” Hampton said. “He’s going to be a great teammate. He’s going to be the hardest-working player on the field at all times. He’s going to encourage his teammates. If it’s something that needs to be fixed, he’s going to try to fix it. So that’s what you’re going to see. You’re going to see a guy that’ll go out there and lay it down for the Golden Lions. You talk about being a leader of a pack, that’s what he is.”
Tuesday was Hampton’s second trip to SWAC Media Day since taking over as head coach, and it was also the second time he brought a defensive end with him.
Last year, that player was Anas Luqman. He had 2.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss in UAPB’s first two games against Tulsa and Tennessee State before tearing his MCL, ending his season early after a promising start.
Hampton said UAPB is fortunate to have Luqman back this year, because had he played the entirety of 2023, he likely would have been poached away by a bigger school.
“Anas Luqman is probably one of the better players in this league,” Hampton said. “He’s been working his tail off with Elijah and the rest of our players, so we’re excited about him. That takes some pressure off him, because we have some more guys that we’re adding that’s going to be able to help him.”
Jenkins and Luqman provide UAPB two returning pass-rush threats on the defensive line, but the Golden Lions will turn to transfers to line up between them.
One notable transfer Hampton often praises, and praised again Tuesday, is Pine Bluff native Antonio Johnson. After graduating from White Hall High School, he sat a year at Memphis before transferring to Northeastern State in Oklahoma. He had 27 tackles, with 4.5 for loss.
At linebacker, UAPB brings back Khalil Arnold, who led the team with 7.5 tackles for loss and 4 sacks. Hampton signed four high school linebackers, including Pine Bluff’s Jonathan Goins, and three junior college linebackers. One of those, Kaylon Bradley, was the second-leading tackler on a Mount San Antonio College (Calif.) team that went 10-1 last season.
Hampton said adding players from winning programs should help significantly as he seeks to turn UAPB around.
“You gotta build a roster that’s going be able to stand when the storms of life come, and that’s what I tell my players,” Hampton said. “‘Hey man, the storms are coming, but you ain’t gonna get rattled. You gonna have a foundation that it’s built on, which is going to be good defense.’ We’re going to have a sound offense, and we’re going to be special on special teams. If we do all those things, we’re going to be able to compete in every single game we play.”