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News of Uekman endowment brings tears

Arkansas tight end Garrett Uekman runs on the field with team mates Saturday, Nov. 19, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

Garrett Uekman was the poster boy for all things good about college football.

He had been a star at Catholic High where he was respected and popular.

When the Arkansas Razorbacks offered a scholarship he couldn't say yes fast enough. They were his favorite college team and he worked hard every day to show how much it meant to be a Razorback.

It would have been surprising if he could have spelled trouble since he stayed so far away from it.

When a condition from an unknown irregular heart beat took his life the day after he had played for Arkansas against Mississippi State in Little Rock -- his ninth game appearance as a redshirt freshman in 2011 -- he left behind a mourning, loving family and legions of friends.

His legacy was already established, but Monday, before Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long addressed the Little Rock Touchdown Club, Uekman's sister Meagan announced a scholarship honoring her brother had been endowed.

Meagan's parents, Danny and Michelle Uekman, wiped away tears and watched quietly as Long announced that the first to be awarded the scholarship was Uekman's close friend, former roommate and teammate, senior offensive lineman Luke Charpentier.

Charpentier, who choked up with emotion, spoke glowingly of his friend and said it was befitting that Uekman's final game had been in Little Rock because Uekman loved his home town.

Long started his talk to the large crowd Monday with the news of the Uekman scholarship and he told how it took family and high school friends, many of whom serve on the Foundation, known as the GU 88, only two years to establish the $100,000 needed for an endowed scholarship.

"Normally, it takes five years, sometimes longer," Long said.

Money has come from the Garrett Uekman 7-on-7 tournament, 12 sponsors and private donations, which can be made to the GU 88, P.O. Box 7773, Little Rock, AR., 72212. Chase Miller, a longtime friend of Uekman's who is working in the UA athletic department, was there and he has been on the point for this scholarship since day 1.

It was the biggest announcement of the day, and it was also probably Long's most successful talk at the Little Rock Touchdown Club.

It was relaxed and funny, taking several shots at club founder David Bazzel and Rex Nelson, who is on the board and starts the meetings each Monday with an entertaining rundown of the previous weekend's college football in Arkansas and the SEC.

Long talked about his role as Chairman of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, but mostly he talked about something near and dear to him and his role as Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics -- academic progress.

The football team's GPA has improved to almost 2.8 and even more impressive is what Coach Mike Anderson has done with basketball.

When Anderson came to the UA it was facing the loss of a scholarship because it was below the Academic Progress Report scoring for two consecutive years. A team needs to score above 900, but Razorbacks basketball was below that and lost a scholarship.

But this past spring Anderson watched five of his players graduate, and he is expected to announce next spring that the team APR is a perfect 1000.

"No longer can opponents use our graduation rate against us in recruiting," Long said.

Long's talk lasted 35 minutes, including taking questions, and fund raising was mostly limited to an answer of a question, and nothing was more significant than the announcement that Garrett Uekman's legacy will live on through Razorbacks athletics.

Sports on 09/16/2014