Beard Spurns Arkansas, Shares Commitment To Ole Miss

Beard makes it official he will not become Razorbacks' coach

Jan 6, 2024; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Chris Beard during the first / Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas was expected to hire Chris Beard as its next men’s basketball coach before a change of events happened. He took to social media Friday afternoon to announce he will stay in Oxford.

HOTTY TODDY
Great times ahead in Oxford. We are just getting started. #WinInTheSip#Culture pic.twitter.com/u8rRwmfkSC

— Chris Beard (@CoachBeard) April 5, 2024

Beard led the Rebels to a solid turnaround in his lone season in Oxford. Ole Miss won 20 games for the first time in a half decade while improving the program’s win total by eight games. The coach and school agreed to a long-term extension during the SEC Tournament which would keep him in town through 2030.

Arkansas will have to continue its search to replace Musselman following a successful five-year stint which saw the Razorbacks go 111-59 overall. That includes two Elite Eight appearances, a Sweet 16 and the second most wins in the SEC since 2019-20 just behind Alabama’s Nate Oats.

The Razorbacks will need to assemble a new roster with nearly all its players either in the transfer portal or out of eligibility. According to Jon Rothstein, Kansas State coach Jerome Tang has emerged as the new leader for Arkansas' opening. He has quite the experience with transfers considering his roster work over the past two seasons.

With the recent success of Arkansas over the past half decade, Musselman awoke a sleeping giant in the college basketball world and needs to be fed. With Tang's small sample size track of winning there's reason to believe he wouldn't have similar success with the Razorbacks.

HOGS FEED:

• Making the case for Jerome Tang as next Arkansas head coach

• Making the case for Will Wade as next Arkansas head coach

• Seventh Razorback hits portal after coaching change made official

• Razorback coaching search list 1.0

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