LITTLE ROCK
As Danny Davis' high school football days drew to a close,
he was eyeing a Division I career but a low test score put that dream on hold.
In the past, Davis' options would have been limited. Junior college football in Arkansas was nonexistent, and there were few places for people like him to turn.
Then Charles Ripley and Arkansas Baptist decided to change that.
"We're filling a void. Serving the underserved is our motto," Ripley said Friday. "Our foundation is taking care of our own. We don't need other states taking care of our kids."
Practice is under way for Arkansas Baptist's new football team, the state's lone junior college program in that sport. The Little Rock school revamped its athletic department under Ripley, its athletic director, and Fitz Hill, the school's president. Ripley, a former Little Rock Parkview basketball coach, has worked for years to create this type of opportunity for young athletes who might otherwise slip through the cracks of the educational system.
Coach Richard Wilson's Buffaloes open their football season Sept. 1 in Athens, Texas, against Trinity Valley Community College. Davis is one of dozens of players who turned out this week for practice. Davis, of Blytheville, says schools like Arkansas, Arkansas State and Texas A&M were looking at him.
"My ACT wasn't high enough," said Davis, a 19-year-old who has played running back and linebacker. "So I came here so I could get everything straightened out. Hopefully I can go to one of them by the end of this year or next year."
Ripley said he's been trying to start this kind of program since around 1999 along with Hill, a former football coach himself. Ripley said he talked to other schools about implementing his vision.
"Really made a hard push at Pulaski Tech, just didn't quite get it done," Ripley said.
But Hill became Arkansas Baptist's president in early 2006. Hill, who earned his doctorate in higher education at the University of Arkansas, was an assistant coach at Arkansas and a head coach at San Jose State.
