Chris Beard has been chosen to be UALR's new men's basketball coach, two sources close to the search told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Tuesday.
UALR announced Tuesday morning that it will hold a news conference at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock to introduce its new coach.
Beard, according to sources, was chosen over four other finalists after compiling a 47-15 record in two seasons at Division II Angelo State in San Angelo, Texas.
Beard was chosen over Joe Kleine, a UALR assistant for eight seasons; Darrell Walker, a former NBA and WNBA coach and former Arkansas Razorbacks player; Mark Downey, an assistant coach at Bowling Green; and Philip Pearson, an assistant coach at Georgia.
Beard is the only one of the five finalists who has never played at or coached at an Arkansas college. Walker and Kleine both played at Arkansas under Eddie Sutton in the 1980s. Downey spent four seasons as coach at Arkansas Tech, and Pearson spent one season as a graduate assistant at UALR under former Coach Wimp Sanderson.
Beard has coached at Angelo State for two seasons, after one season at Division II McMurry in Abilene, Texas, and spent 2001-2011 as an assistant at Texas Tech under Bobby Knight and Pat Knight.
Beard arrived at Angelo State in 2013 to take over a program that had suffered through losing seasons in eight of the previous 10 years.
The Rams went 19-9 in 2013-2014, before leading them to their best season ever this year. The Rams went 28-6 to set a program record for victory, reach the Division II sweet 16 for the first time and end the season ranked No. 19 nationally.
Beard was named the South Central Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The Rams set single season school records for victories, points (2,860), field-goal percentage (52.8) and won a school record 16 consecutive games during the season.
Beard is 66-25 in three seasons as a Division II coach and has also served as head coach at Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College and Seminole (Okla.) State.
Beard will take over for Steve Shields, UALR's all-time wins leader who was fired with one year left on his contract after going 192-178 in 12 seasons.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.