By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach John Pelphrey four-year run with the Razorbacks has ended.
Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long fired Pelphrey on Sunday, according to sources. The move comes three days after the Razorbacks (18-13) suffered a 74-68 loss to Tennessee in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. It was the third straight season Arkansas had lost in the first round.
Arkansas announced Pelphrey’s firing just before 2:30 on Sunday.
“After a thorough and comprehensive evaluation of our men’s basketball program, including an assessment of the overall student-athlete experience within our program, it is clear that we have not made the progress over the last four years that is necessary to return Razorback Basketball to a place of national relevance.” Long said. “As a program, our initial goals are to challenge for Southeastern Conference championships, compete in the NCAA Tournament and support our student-athletes in the pursuit of a degree. Our program’s tradition demonstrates those goals are certainly attainable at the University of Arkansas.
“I want to thank John and his staff for their hard work and dedication to the Razorback program. I am appreciative of their efforts on behalf of the University of Arkansas.”
Arkansas announced it will hold a press conference at 6 p.m. this evening.
Long’s decision to part ways with Pelphrey came as little surprise, considering the amount of frustration and criticism building around Pelphrey and program the past several weeks. The most memorable sign came earlier this month, when a fan placed an advertisement in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette urging others to write letters to leaders expressing their concerns about the program.
In addition — and perhaps most telling — attendance in Bud Walton Arena had dipped to an all-time low this season. In 18 games in Fayetteville, Arkansas averaged 12,022 in paid attendance.
Pelphrey, who coached at South Alabama before being hired at Arkansas, finished 69-59 in his career. It includes a 25-39 record in SEC games and a 2-4 mark in the SEC Tournament. The Razorbacks finished below .500 in SEC play the past three seasons, including the program-worst record of 2-14 in 2009.
Pelphrey’s career with the Razorbacks wasn’t void of highlights. The Razorbacks reached the NCAA Tournament in his first season and won a game for the first time in nine years. Arkansas raced out to a 12-1 mark the next season, aided by victories against top-10 teams Oklahoma and Texas in a week’s span.
Pelphrey also signed one of the nation’s top classes in 2011 with prospects B.J. Young, Ky Madden, Hunter Mickelson, Aaron Ross and Devonta Abron. He was watching Mickelson and Ross play in the Class 4A and 6A state finals Saturday, respectively, operating as if nothing had changed in regard to his job status.
Pelphrey will not get to coach the group next season. And it was not immediately known if all five still plan to come to Arkansas with Pelphrey no longer in charge of the program.
Pelphrey’s contract runs through April 2014 and pays him $1.2 million annually. The employment agreement does not include the financial terms of what Pelphrey would be owed. But the buyout for the remaining years is believed to be $1.8 million or $600,000 annually.
Assistant coach Rob Evans is expected to take over the team, which will find out if it has received a National Invitation Tournament berth tonight, on an interim basis with Pelphrey’s firing.
But Evans, when contacted Sunday, said he “didn’t know anything” in regard to the change.
It was not clear Sunday who Arkansas plans to target for its next coach, although Missouri’s Mike Anderson will be a popular one. The former Arkansas assistant under Nolan Richardson.
