FAYETTEVILLE — John Pelphrey chose a familiar route to find an assistant coach to round out his staff Thursday.
The Arkansas coach hired former Florida All-American guard Brett Nelson on Thursday, ending a two-month search to fill a spot left open in March after Pelphrey re-assigned Isaac Brown within the program. Nelson played at Florida for four years, including a period of time when Pelphrey served as an assistant coach on Billy Donovan's staff.
Nelson was an assistant coach for three years at Marshall before moving to a post at Central Florida in late March.
"I am very excited to have Brett join our staff," Pelphrey said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
"Brett has a tremendous basketball IQ and will bring our student-athletes a first-hand perspective of the commitment and dedication that is required to win Southeastern Conference championships and compete nationally. In his tenures at Colorado State, Virginia Commonwealth and Marshall, Brett has been instrumental in both the recruiting and on-court successes of those programs. I have known Brett throughout his basketball career as a player and a coach. He is an exceptional person and will be an excellent addition to our coaching staff and our program."
Nelson will earn $130,000 a year, pending approval from Arkansas' board of trustees.
Nelson was involved in landing several outstanding recruits, according to a university news release, including Hassan Whiteside who led the nation in blocks in 2009-10. Whiteside recorded 182 blocks, the fourth most for a single season in NCAA history, earning the phenom Conference USA Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year accolades as well as second-team Freshman All-America honors by Sporting News.
Before his three-year stint at Marshall, Nelson was the director of operations for Colorado State in 2004-05 and Virginia Commonwealth in the 2006-07 season.
As a player, Nelson led Florida to four NCAA tournament appearances, a national championship game appearance, two SEC overall championships and three Eastern Division titles while earning Associated Press All-America honorable mention honors in 2000-01. Nelson graduated from Florida in 2004.
For more on this story, read the Friday edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and WholeHogSports.com.