Mississippi Valley State University has hired University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff quarterbacks coach Kenton Evans as its new offensive coordinator.
Valley announced the move earlier this week.
Evans was hired at UAPB in April 2020 and coached during the Golden Lions’ recent spring season, which was postponed from the fall because of the corona-virus pandemic. He mentored Skyler Perry during a second-team All-SWAC spring campaign, as Perry ranked second in the conference with 1,236 passing yards and 13 touchdowns and led UAPB to the SWAC championship game against Alabama A&M.
Evans is now taking on the challenge of resurrecting a Delta Devils offense that ranked last out of nine SWAC teams (Alcorn State did not play during the spring) in total offense with 124.7 yards per game and in efficiency with a 90.6 rating. Valley’s Jalani Eason was ninth in the SWAC with 118.7 yards per game, and the Devils did not have a single player chart among the top 25 in receiving yards per game.
Evans’ move takes shape ahead of a season in which UAPB is not scheduled to face Valley, given the SWAC’s expansion to 12 teams with the addition of Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M universities, and an eight-conference game slate for each team. Valley was considered a chief rival of UAPB given the schools’ proximity to each other (148 miles) since UAPB began competing as a SWAC institution in 1997.
The last time UAPB and Valley did not square off was 1994, when the Golden Lions were still members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The Lions hold a 27-24-1 all-time advantage over the Devils, including a 24-17 win in Itta Bena, Miss., on April 3.
FROM GOLDEN LION TO BLACK BEAR
Former UAPB defensive lineman Xavier Mitchell has transferred to the University of Maine, the latter school announced.
Mitchell is immediately eligible to play for the Black Bears, a Colonial Athletic Association program that has gone 8-8 since reaching the NCAA Division I semifinals in 2018. Given the NCAA’s covid-19 transfer rule waiver, Mitchell has two years of eligibility remaining, although he played three seasons at UAPB.
In 27 games for the Lions, the 6-foot-2, 250-pound Mitchell totaled 119 tackles
(22.5 for losses and 11 sacks) and recovered two fumbles. He made 18 tackles (four for losses and three sacks) during the five-game spring season, and his five sacks led the team in 2019.
On June 25, UAPB senior cornerback Shawn Steele announced he was transferring to the University of South Alabama. Steele totaled 28 tackles and intercepted a pass during the spring, finishing his four-year Lions career with 139 stops and six interceptions.
UAPB wide receiver Harry Ballard III announced his transfer to the University of Nevada shortly after the Lions’ SWAC championship game loss on May 1. Ballard, who previously played at Jones College in Mississippi and the University of Missouri, caught 23 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns as a senior.
REPORT: UAPB LANDS ALABAMA PREP STAR
The Dothan (Ala.) Eagle reported that Abbeville High School multi-position standout Rico Dozier was completing the scholarship signing process to land at UAPB, flipping from his official commitment to Faulkner University, an NAIA program in Montgomery, Ala.
UAPB has not yet confirmed Dozier’s signing.
Dozier reportedly planned to walk on at the University of Tennessee before Coach Jeremy Pruitt was fired, leading him to sign with Faulkner. Dozier told The Eagle that he received a text from UAPB saying he would be offered a scholarship, an answer to his prayer for a Division I offer.
Dozier played quarterback, running back, linebacker and long snapper for Abbeville, which played in the 2020 Alabama 2A state championship game, the newspaper reported. A starter at Abbeville since eighth grade, according to the article, Dozier totaled 136 tackles and intercepted a pass as a senior.