Arkansas picks Pelphrey

Apr 9, 2007, 20:55 GMT

Fayetteville, AR - The University of Arkansas has named John Pelphrey its new men's basketball coach.

Pelphrey spent the past five seasons as the head coach at South Alabama, guiding the Jaguars to an NCAA Tournament berth in 2006 and the NIT this past season. He was the Sun Belt Conference coach of the year in 2006.

South Alabama was 80-67 under Pelphrey, including marks of 24-7 in 2005-06 and 20-12 in '06-07. The Jaguars were first-round losers to eventual national champion Florida in the 2006 NCAA Tournament and dropped a 79-73 decision to Syracuse in the first round of the 2007 NIT.

Pelphrey returns to the Southeastern Conference, where he played and worked as an assistant. He played for Kentucky from 1988-92 and was an assistant at Florida under Billy Donovan from 1997-2002.

The Paintsville, Kentucky native was also an assistant for Donovan at Marshall and began his coaching career with a one-year stint as an assistant for Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State.

Arkansas was in need of a new head coach after Stan Heath was fired last month following a five-year stint. The Razorbacks appeared to have a new mentor when Dana Altman agreed to take the job, but he changed his mind one day later and returned to Creighton.

Heath took Arkansas to the NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons, suffering first-round losses both times. The Razorbacks were in danger of missing this year's NCAA tourney, but a surprising run to the SEC Tournament title game helped them gain an at-large bid. The Hogs were rewarded with a 12th seed and dropped a 77-60 decision to Southern California in the first round to complete a 21-14 season.

The Razorbacks also suffered a first-round loss in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, an appearance that ended a four-year NCAA drought.

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