UALR

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 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.