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Hogs get commit from Pats’ Murphy | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

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Hogs get commit from Pats’ Murphy | Arkansas Democrat Gazette


The University of Arkansas football program added a commitment Saturday from Little Rock Parkview athlete Quentin Murphy during a ceremony at the Keith Jackson Training Facility in Little Rock.

“I chose to stay home because I have a special connection with all the (Arkansas) coaches, especially Coach (Sam) Pittman,” Murphy said. “He believed in me when I was in the 10th grade and kept fighting to get me. That’s true love.”

Murphy, 6-1 and 205 pounds, chose the Razorbacks over reported scholarship offers from Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Louisville, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oklahoma, Michigan State and others.

He informed Pittman of his commitment April 15, his birthday.

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“He was excited. He said, ‘You made my day,’ and I was glad to hear that,” Murphy said.

Murphy played quarterback at Joe T. Robinson High School in Little Rock as a junior and completed 61 of 136 passes for 892 yards and 13 touchdowns, and rushed 85 times for 697 yards and 7 touchdowns.

He transferred to Little Rock Parkview for the spring semester and is slated to play this fall for the Patriots, the two-time defending Class 5A state champions.

Rivals lists him as a 4-star recruit and the No. 20 athlete in the class of 2025. His versatility opens the possibility for him to play several positions, but he said he has his eye set on offense, particularly at wide receiver.

“They said I can play whatever, but I want to play wideout,” he said.

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Parkview Coach Brad Bolding said the Hogs are getting a top prospect and person.

“We’re very excited about his commitment and being able to focus on having a great senior season,” Bolding said. “He is a tremendous athlete and is a great young man and very personable. I like that in young men.”

Murphy said he plans to officially visit Fayetteville on June 7-9.

The Razorbacks hope to add some of his Parkview teammates to the commitment list in the future. Arkansas has offered scholarships to Parkview safety Omarion Robinson, athlete Monterrio Elston and running back Cameron Settles in the 2025 class, and 2026 linebacker Jakore Smith.

Murphy is Arkansas’ seventh commitment in the 2025 class.

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Arkansas

Johnell Davis, Karter Knox find their grooves in Arkansas basketball’s rout over UMES

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Johnell Davis, Karter Knox find their grooves in Arkansas basketball’s rout over UMES


FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas basketball has been waiting throughout the first few weeks of the regular season for breakout performances from Johnell Davis and Karter Knox

Both players came to life for the Razorbacks (5-1) on Monday night, unleashing an offensive onslaught in a 109-35 romp over Maryland Eastern Shore. The 74-point win tied for the third-largest margin of victory in school history.

The usual suspects — Boogie Fland, Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivišić — all shined, but it was the emergence of Davis and Knox that powered the best offensive performance of the season. Knox led all scorers with a career-high 21 points, while Davis chipped in 16 to post his highest scoring output since joining the Hogs this offseason.

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“If everybody is good, no one has to be great,” Arkansas assistant coach Chin Coleman said after the win.

“So we have a team that we feel like if everybody is good, we don’t have to have someone go in the phone booth, put on the cape and be Superman. We’ve got a good collective of guys that if everybody is good, no one player has to be great, so we need (Davis and Knox) to be good.”

Knox was a five-star recruit in the 2024 class, viewed as an elite scorer who could get to the basket in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, his jumper has been cold to start his collegiate career, and he entered Monday night 1 of 15 on 3-pointers.

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But against UMES, Knox went 3 of 8 from long range. He made a pair of corner 3s and found time to paint the basket for easy points. After one 3-pointer, he exchanged words with the Arkansas bench, a sign of relief after failing to score more than six points through the first five games.

“It felt good to get going. I’ve been putting the work in the gym,” Knox said. “Teammates kept believing in me. They knew it was going to fall, tonight was the night.”

Davis’ early-season struggles have been puzzling. He averaged 18.2 points on 48% shooting last year at Florida Atlantic, but he hadn’t scored more than eight points since the Hogs’ season-opener. Coleman admitted during a recent press conference that Davis is adjusting to being surrounded by other top options, instead of being a clear-cut leader of the offense.

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With Arkansas, Davis has been more of a stretch-the-floor shooter through the first three weeks. It makes sense, given that Davis shot 41.4% from 3 last season with the Owls, and he finally got hot Monday night by going 4 of 7 against the Hawks.

“We saw him the other day make 40 in-a-row. It was just a matter of time,” Coleman said. “The only thing in between him and making shots is air and opportunity. So he had an opportunity tonight, and he made them.”

The next question is how repeatable were these performances. Maryland Eastern Shore represents arguably the worst opponent on Arkansas’ schedule. Things are about to get much tougher, beginning with a Thanksgiving showdown against Illinois.

In their last matchup against a Power Four school, Davis and Knox combined for eight points on 2 of 12 shooting against Baylor. They could hold the keys to a first signature victory in the John Calipari era this Thursday.



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New statewide group promotes, aids prescribed burns | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

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New statewide group promotes, aids prescribed burns | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette


The newly formed Arkansas Prescribed Burn Association held its first meeting in mid-October.

The association works as an umbrella organization, recruiting and maintaining new groups of landowners to conduct prescribed burns throughout the state.

“Properly planned prescribed burns reduce the fuel load, which can lessen or even eliminate wildfires,” said Thomas Baldridge, one of the association’s three directors. “But that’s only part of the benefit of prescribed fire. It’s the best tool available to land managers to increase wildlife habitat for turkeys, quail, deer and all sorts of other species.”

North American bird populations have declined by more than 2.9 billion birds in the last 50 years and the loss of grassland habitat is one of the largest contributors to that loss, according to a recent study conducted by Kenneth Rosenberg and highlighted by the National Audubon Society. Fire helps open up dense underbrush to promote seed-producing grasses and plants that are beneficial to grassland species on a year-round basis.

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Instead of manipulating land through dirt work or planting food plots, many landowners can turn the tide on the loss of wildlife habitat with the proper use of prescribed fire.

Baldridge said the formation of the prescribed burn association was a natural evolution to what the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and other partnering organizations had been studying the last few years.

“Game and Fish started building prescribed burn associations a few years ago. Most of our members have been fortunate to have worked with many of the staff from Game and Fish, Quail Forever and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on burns and other private land habitat projects. The prescribed burn association just sort of seemed to be a missing piece to the puzzle that was already being put together,” Baldridge said.

Hunter Johnson of Des Arc and Catrina Mendoza of Searcy share director duties with Baldridge, who also lives in Searcy.

Baldridge said the association used states like Oklahoma and Florida as templates to follow in their formation.

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“Oklahoma really sets the standard for a statewide prescribed burn association. They’ve grown to a massive organization with a budget over $1 million and eight full-time staff members to support all of their chapters.”

Game and Fish, Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Quail Forever all pitched in financially to help the new association build a firm foundation. Game and Fish granted the organization $25,000. Fish and Wildlife gave it $50,000 and Quail Forever provided $17,000 derived from its specialty license plate sales.

Baldridge says trailers, safety gear and other prescribed burn necessities also were donated to the association, increasing its startup assistance to more than $200,000 in funding and equipment. Since the organization is entirely volunteer-based, all of this funding is put directly into putting prescribed fire on the landscape.

Visit www.arfire.org for more information and to learn how to set up a new prescribed burn association in any area of Arkansas.



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Arkansas' official depth chart for Missouri game

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Arkansas' official depth chart for Missouri game


FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks (6-4, 3-4 SEC) have released the depth chart for Saturday’s regular season finale against the No. 24 Missouri Tigers (8-3, 4-3 SEC) at Razorback Stadium.

Arkansas recovered from a slow start to take down Louisiana Tech, 35-14, over the weekend in Fayetteville. Missouri bounced back from a loss to South Carolina on Sept. 16 with a 39-20 win at Mississippi State on Saturday.

A few changes were made to this week’s depth chart, most notably the absence of junior defensive end Nico Davillier at the defensive end position. The pass-rusher did not play against Louisiana Tech on Saturday due to a knee injury, and senior Anton Juncaj is the lone listed starter in Davillier’s place. Backing up Juncaj is freshman Charlie Collins.

At safety, sophomore TJ Metcalf and junior Miguel Mitchell no longer have an “or” listed between them. Metcalf is the starter with Mitchell backing him up. Finally, redshirt sophomore Brooks Edmonson is listed as the backup center behind Addison Nichols instead of redshirt sophomore Amaury Wiggins, who is no longer listed on the depth chart.

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Here is the full Arkansas depth chart ahead of Saturday’s game against Missouri, which is set to kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network at Memorial Stadium.



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