After eight years teaching at his alma mater, Mike Neighbors is out at Arkansas. A number of sources confirmed to SB Nation that Neighbors and Arkansas had been parting methods, and the Razorbacks formally framed his dismissal as a resignation on Tuesday afternoon.
The Razorbacks will owe Neighbors a buyout of north of $1 million. He got here again to Fayetteville a 12 months after taking Washington – then led on the courtroom by WNBA All-Star Kelsey Plum – to the Ultimate 4 for the primary time ever. However Neighbors was by no means in a position to attain that degree of success with the Razorbacks.
He had three sturdy campaigns between 2019 and 2022, however the NCAA Event was canceled in 2020 and the Hogs had been bounced within the first spherical of 2021 and 2022. Arkansas was left on the incorrect aspect of the March Insanity bubble in 2023, and Neighbors had a 9-23 document in SEC play over the previous two seasons.
General, Neighbors went 148-114 at Arkansas, obtained the Hogs ranked as excessive as No. 10 within the AP Prime 25 Ballot, produced two WNBA Draft picks, and went to 2 NCAA Tournaments. However this season – the place Arkansas had a 10-22 document, a successful share of .313 – was its worst since 1981.
Neighbors was not employed by present Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek in 2017 – again then, Jeff Lengthy was nonetheless in command of Hogs’ athletics – however Yurachek did hand him an extension by way of 2028 in 2021.
Yurachek has been mulling over firing Neighbors for the previous week, since Arkansas fell 79-74 to Georgia final Wednesday within the SEC Event. A number of sources confirmed to SB Nation that Yurachek has already spoken to 1 potential candidate in Grand Canyon’s Molly Miller, who can also be anticipated to be within the combine for openings at Arizona State and Missouri.
Whereas Miller is a Missouri native and at present coaches only a stone’s throw away from Arizona State, Arkansas has the cash. Neighbors’ annual wage made him the eighth-highest paid coach within the SEC and he made extra than each Robin Pingeton and Natasha Adair – the earlier coaches at Missouri and Arizona State.
Miller, 38, is about to educate Grand Canyon on Wednesday within the WAC Event at 3 p.m. ET in Las Vegas, Nevada. She guided the Lopes to a 29-2 total document within the common season – with two Energy 4 wins – and an ideal 16-0 mark in convention play. She’s 114-37 in 5 seasons at Grand Canyon and went 180-17 throughout her time as a Division II head coach.
If Arkansas is unable to land Miller, right here’s who may be subsequent in line:
Elena Lovato
A longtime assistant for Vic Schaefer, at Mississippi State and now at Texas, Lovato is extensively revered in teaching circles and has lots of expertise as a head coach and assistant at completely different ranges. Along with serving to Schaefer’s groups attain excessive ranges of success, Lovato was the top coach at Division II Arkansas-Fort Smith and led her workforce to the Division II NCAA Event in her second season. She additionally has a document of 113-8 as a junior faculty head coach and received two NJCAA Nationwide Championships. Lovato is aware of the SEC, is aware of methods to win and is aware of the recruiting terrain round Arkansas.
Kellie Harper
It doesn’t seem to be Harper goes to get the Missouri gig, however she may very well be the suitable match for Arkansas. Between 4 stops as a head coach – Western Carolina, N.C. State, Missouri State and Tennessee – Harper has a 60.2 successful share, 9 NCAA Event appearances and 5 convention championships underneath her belt in 20 seasons on the sidelines. She took Missouri State to the Candy 16 and helped flip it right into a mid-major energy, and led the Girl Vols to the second weekend of March Insanity twice. Arkansas hasn’t been to the Candy 16 since 1998. Whereas Harper didn’t meet expectations at Tennessee, she’s proven the power to win persistently at a excessive degree.
Ayla Guzzardo
Whereas this looks like a longshot on paper – and certainly, the leap from the Southland to the SEC is an enormous one – there’s a connection between Guzzardo and Yurachek: when she was ending her enjoying profession at Akron, he was there as the chief senior affiliate athletics director. There’s at the least a small likelihood that they know one another. After the SE Louisiana Lions had dropping data in 22 of their final 24 seasons, Guzzardo has guided them to 5 straight successful campaigns. Moreover, SE Louisiana’s lone NCAA Event berth got here underneath her watch in 2023, and she or he’s eyeing a second bid to the Huge Dance this week because the Southland Event begins. The Lions are the highest seed in it after successful the common season title.