The fast start by the UALR men's basketball team under first-year Coach Chris Beard has been a surprise to many -- but not to the coach responsible for the program's highest level of success.
UALR won its first 10 games to open the season and is 12-1 overall and 2-0 in the Sun Belt Conference heading into Thursday's home against Louisiana-Lafayette. It's the program's best start, so good that until a Dec. 22 loss at Texas Tech the Trojans were earning votes in national top 25 polls, the first time they earned such mention since Mike Newell-coached teams in the late 1980s.