University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff to participate in SMSB HBCU Football Academy

The second annual Sound Mind Sound Body (SMSB) HBCU College Academy will be held in Detroit from May 12-14 at Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School. This year, SMSB will have twice as many colleges and their football coaches in attendance. The FREE event will feature football coaches from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff was in 1873 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. It was founded as the Branch Normal College as an extension of the University of Arkansas. Racial segregation ran rampant in the South during that time and it was very common to see states form two separate schools for Black and white students. UAPB was placed in Pine Bluff because of its large population of Black residents.

In 1927, the name was changed to the Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College and moved to its current location in 1929. In  1972, AM&N merged with the University of Arkansas system again, thus becoming the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB). It is the oldest HBCU in Arkansas.

U.S. News ranked UAPB as the 30th best HBCU in the nation in 2022. Notable alumni of Pline Bluff include NFL Hall of Famer L.C. Greenwood and current NFL player Terron Armstead.

UAPB football has been playing since 1916 and plays in SWAC Conference. Head coach Doc Gamble has been with the program since 2018.