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NCAA Basketball rewind: Most impactful coaching hires after 2015 season

DENVER, CO - MARCH 17: Chris Beard, head coach of Arkansas Little Rock Trojans reacts during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Pepsi Center on March 17, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - MARCH 17: Chris Beard, head coach of Arkansas Little Rock Trojans reacts during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Pepsi Center on March 17, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /
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NCAA Basketball Chris Beard, Josh Hagins Arkansas Little Rock Trojans (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
NCAA Basketball Chris Beard, Josh Hagins Arkansas Little Rock Trojans (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

3. Chris Beard (Little Rock)

The Sun Belt isn’t exactly full of household names when it comes to their basketball. Little Rock wasn’t a terrible program, but certainly not deserving of being a household name. They had made a few NCAA Tournaments over the years and had been the first head coaching stop for Porter Moser. The 2015 season had ended at a 13-18 mark, leaving the Trojans to turn their attention towards their next coach, a phenomenal hire.

Over time, Chris Beard has been pretty magical everywhere he goes as a head coach. He spent time at several smaller colleges as a head coach, with two years at Angelo State the most recent. He was an assistant at Texas Tech for ten years under Bobby and Pat Knight. He was more than ready to be a D1 head coach and achieved far more success than expected with these Trojans.

Beard spent just one season at Little Rock but it was a pretty legendary season. He led the Trojans to quite the bounce back, winning 30 games, making the NCAA Tournament, and pulling a first round upset over 5-seed Purdue in the process. Beard should be even higher on this list but departed for Texas Tech (technically UNLV) soon after the season concluded. Meanwhile, Little Rock hasn’t had the best of luck since.