Southern Arkansas University Athletics

Searcy, Arkansas native Karonce Higgins remained in the Natural State when it came time to take his talents to the collegiate level and to say the Muleriders benefitted would be a vast understatement. 

A two-sport star for Southern Arkansas over the course of his career, it was Higgins' 2018 year which resulted in arguably the most dominant 12-month calendar stretch of any athlete in department history. Higgins captured the Great American Conference's High Point Award at the league track and field championships in April, competed in two events at the national championship in May and was named a Harlon Hill Trophy award finalist, the top honor in Division II football and the first Mulerider to reach the final ballot, in December. 

That spring, Higgins won the 200M and Long Jump individual titles at the GAC Championships, was a member of SAU's championship-winning 4x100 (anchor leg) and 4x400 (third leg) relay teams, totaled 33 points and helped the Muleriders claim the program's first conference championship in its NCAA era. 

He added those successes to a GAC long jump title in 2016 in addition to running the third leg of the GAC-winning 4x400 team in 2019. In all, Higgins finished his track career as an 11-time All-GAC first team honoree and a two-time All-GAC second team honoree with 17 career individual event wins, 21 career relay event wins and 66 podium finishes across individual and relay events. A four-time GAC Athlete of the Week (3 Track, 1 Field), Higgins competed in both the 2016 (200M, LJ) and 2019 (100M, 200M) national championship meets earning all-region honors in both sprint events his final year. 

In the fall of 2018, Higgins orchestrated one of the program's most prolific receiving seasons by placing his name atop a pair of prestigious records with 198 career receptions and 2,969 yards receiving. His 1,150-yard receiving campaign, the second-most ever in a single season, made him just the second wideout to reach that yard mark in program history and he is one of only two to catch 30 touchdowns in a career. He became just the second SAU wide receiver in the program's NCAA Division II Era (1995-96) to be named an All-America performer (D2CCA, D2Football.com).

A unanimous All-GAC First Team selection and an all-region honoree, Higgins concluded his senior season with 73 catches for 1,150 yards and nine touchdowns and added 190 yards on eight kickoff returns. One of the nation's biggest receiving threats, Higgins recorded 26 plays of 25 or more yards that season, while 42 of his 73 catches went for a first down, including seven of his touchdown grabs. He finished a single reception shy of the single-game record and posted the second-most receiving yards in a single game in a career-best effort at Southwestern Oklahoma State.

Since his departure from Magnolia, Higgins has played multiple seasons of professional football both indoors and outdoors. Most recently with the Billings Outlaws of the Arena Football League, Higgins has played in The Spring League and the Champions Indoor Football League where he was named the league's offensive player of the year with the Gillette Mustangs in 2023.