Report: Chris Beard, Jerome Tang are two finalists for Arkansas head coaching job
Arkansas joined the coaching carousel late with Eric Musselman deciding to leave Fayetteville to become the next head coach at USC. However, it looks as though the Razorbacks’ still have at least two top options on the table for his replacement.
Ole Miss’ Chris Beard has been a name that has come up since Musselman left for Los Angeles on Thursday. Now, per Tim Everson of The Mercury, Kansas State’s Jerome Tang is now also a finalist for the job.
Everson continued by saying that Tang has either already met with those with the ‘Hogs or will be doing so over the weekend while in attendance for the Final Four.
“The same sources tell the Mercury that Tang has either met with officials from Arkansas or will be meeting with them while attending the Final Four in Phoenix, Arizona,” Everson wrote.
Beard has been a leading candidate across the country after almost a decade now as a head coach. His resumé includes a record of 191-85 (.692)at Little Rock, Texas Tech, Texas, and this season in Oxford. It also features four league titles and six NCAA Tournament berths. That time with the Red Raiders had their program’s only Final Four and national title appearance. That happened in 2019 before losing in the championship in overtime to Virginia.
As for Tang, he has just come onto the scene as a head coaching contender. He had spent the past 19 seasons as an assistant coach and associate head coach at Baylor. That was before taking the job at Kansas State in 2022. In his pair of seasons leading the Wildcats, they have gone 45-25 (.643). They missed the NCAA Tournament this season but made the Elite Eight a season ago in his first year behind Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson.
Musselman left Arkansas for Southern California after five seasons. He leaves after posting a 111-59 (.653) record. That includes wither a Sweet 16 or Elite Eight in all three of their appearances in the NCAA Tournament. He now returns to the west coast after starting his head coaching career at Nevada. He also has career connections in college and the pros to Tempe, Los Angeles, Reno, Sacramento, Oakland, and San Diego.
With his decision, roster moves have already started to come through in Fayetteville. Josh Cohen, a portal commitment for the ‘Hogs from UMass, flipped to USC after the announcement. Khalif Battle, the Razorbacks’ second-leading scorer from last season, also has plans to now enter the portal. Those shifts should place even more haste to this decision with April already upon us.
Even with the speed of this process, Arkansas hasn’t made a decision as they still have discussions to have. Still, it appears that either one of Beard or Tang might be Musselman’s successor to take over inside Bud Walton Arena.