UALR coach takes a mix-and-match approach

Chris Beard
Chris Beard

During an interview that would lead to his becoming UALR's men's basketball coach, Chris Beard laid out his plan for building a roster that could compete at the top of the Sun Belt Conference.

Beard noted while speaking with Athletic Director Chasse Conque that the players named to this past year's All-Sun Belt team came from a variety of backgrounds. The 15 players selected, Beard told Conque, arrived at their respective schools from high schools, junior colleges, as transfers or from overseas.

New guys

• UALR coach ….

POS. PLAYER;YR;HT;WT;PPG;RPG;APG

F Oliver Black;Jr.;6-9;225;1.8;2.4;0.3

G Deondre Burns;Fr.;6-2;175;23.9;n/a;n/a

F Daniel Green;Sr.;6-10;240;0.3;0.3;0.0

G Jalen Jackson;Jr.;6-6;195;18.3;4.7;2.1

G Marcus Johnson;6-1;175;16.9;3.2;7.8

G Jermaine Ruttley;6-3;200;17.4;6.7;1.6

F Lis Shoshi;6-11;210;9.4;9.5;1.0

Beard's first recruiting class for the Trojans has the same type of diversity.

"We wanted to try to upgrade our talent, and we're going to go anywhere and everywhere we can to find those players," Beard said. "Consistent with what's happened in this league a lot, we found those players in different venues."

Between being introduced April 8 as UALR's successor to Steve Shields and the announcement of Mississippi State transfer forward Oliver Black on July 8, Beard signed seven players to scholarships and brought in two recruited walks-ons in an effort to rebuild a roster that finished 13-18 overall and 8-12 in conference play last season.

Of the seven scholarship players, three are transfers from four-year programs (Black, forward Daniel Green of Wake Forest and guard Jermaine Ruttley of Florida A&M), three are junior college transfers (Jalen Jackson of Northwest Florida State, Marcus Johnson, Jr. of Hill College in Texas and Lis Shoshi of Howard College in Texas) and Deondre Burns of Newman Smith High School in Carrollton, Texas.

Beard began in search of size, considering 6-9 Mareik Isom is the only player among six returners taller than 6-5.

Beard signed Shoshi, a 6-11 junior who was voted the best defensive player in his conference last year; Green, a 6-10 graduate transfer who has battled knee injuries; and Black, a 6-9 forward who will have to sit out this season because of transfer rules.

As for guards, Ruttley was perhaps the biggest get. He led Florida A&M in points (17.4), rebounds (6.7) and assists (1.6) last year and was briefly committed to Louisiana Tech before Coach Mike White took the job at Florida. Ruttley will be eligible immediately because of the Rattlers' Academic Progress Rate troubles.

"He's a proven guy in a lot of ways," Beard said.

Beard also added Jackson, a West Memphis native who played one season at the University of Central Arkansas and averaged 18.3 points for Northwest Florida last season. Johnson, originally from Charlotte, averaged 16.9 points and 7.8 assists at Hill College.

Burns is the only high school addition, but Beard said he has a chance to contribute early.

Beard said he is confident the seven new scholarship players will be able to mix in with a group of returners that includes guards Josh Hagins and Kemy Osse and forwards Roger Woods, Maurius Hill, Stetson Billings and Isom.

All of the players are on campus, which Beard hopes will help the cohesion among a roster of 17 players, including walk-ons.

"These are all unselfish guys and they chose to come here for the right reasons," he said. "These guys all have faith and trust in us and bought into what we were selling, and that's kind of the foundation of us all being here.

"We're all here for the same reason, and that's to try to build a championship program here."

Sports on 07/19/2015

Upcoming Events