Lee Hardman is returning to the sideline this season.
The coach who took Arkansas-Pine Bluff out of the depths of the death penalty in the mid-1990s will return to lead Dollarway High School, where he won 114 games and four state championships during a stint that ended in 1992, this fall, he said Thursday.
Hardman, 66, hasn't coached since he resigned at UAPB in 2003, and has been Dollarway's athletic director the last three years.
"I got out of it too soon," Hardman said when asked his reasons for getting back into coaching. "I feel like I should have stayed in it a little bit longer."
Hardman, who will remain athletic director, is taking over for Cortez Lee, who was 65-30 in eight seasons. He resigned to become an assistant coach at White Hall, Hardman said.
Hardman's return to coaching marks that of one of the state's most successful high school coaches. Dollarway went 114-20-1 under Hardman in 1982-1992, a run that included four state championships and a 51-game winning streak. The Cardinals were 63-1 in Hardman's final five seasons before he took over at UAPB in 1993. He was 63-57 with the Golden Lions, which included an NAIA national runner-up finish in 1994.
Dollarway was 6-5 last year. Hardman said his expectations are high, but won't set the school's run in the early-1990s as a standard.
"I'm not going to put myself in that situation," he said. "There are some good teams in Arkansas Class 4A. But we've got to re-establish the understanding of what the expectations are at Dollarway, and once we establish that, good things will happen."
-- Troy Schulte
BASEBALL
UALR assistant leaves for Kentucky
Roland Fanning has left UALR to become an assistant coach at Kentucky, it was announced Thursday.
Fanning spent the last two seasons with the Trojans, serving as recruiting coordinator while also coaching outfielders, bunting and base-running.
As recruiting coordinator, Fanning helped build a roster that went 26-28 overall and 17-13 in the Sun Belt this season while reaching the Sun Belt tournament for the first time in three seasons. The Trojans set a program record for Sun Belt victories.
Fanning has also coached at Oklahoma State in 2013-2014.
Sports on 07/08/2016