UALR did what it could to keep its head men's basketball coach last week, and Athletic Director Chasse Conque said he thought he had put together a deal that would have kept Chris Beard in Little Rock for at least one more season.
Then UNLV called, setting forth a chain of events that led to Monday, when UALR's coach of one season left for an offer too lucrative for the Trojans to match.
Beard stepped down as UALR men's basketball coach, the school announced Monday, to take over UNLV, a program with a rich tradition, but in need of a jolt similar to what Beard provided the Trojans this season.