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ESPN Staff Writer- Basketball recruiting insider.
- Joined ESPN in 2014.
- Graduate of University of Delaware.
Little Rock is finalizing a deal to hire veteran college coach Travis Ford, sources told ESPN.
The deal is expected to be completed in the near future, giving Little Rock a coach with 24 years head coaching experience who has reached seven different NCAA tournament at three different schools.
Ford has 424 wins over four Division I stops, as he has been the coach at Eastern Kentucky, UMass, Oklahoma State and Saint Louis.
He takes over a program that hasn't reached the NCAA tournament since 2015-16 when Chris Beard was the coach. Little Rock's next two coaches, Wes Flanigan and Darrell Walker, failed to reach the tournament.
Ford will replace Walker, who went 113-133 over eight years.
Ford is a former Kentucky and Missouri player who is best known in coaching circles for his stint at Oklahoma State. He was there from 2008-09 to 2015-16, reaching the NCAA tournament in five of his eight seasons there. He reached the NCAA tournament in three of his final four years there, and Oklahoma State has reached just two NCAA tournaments in the decade since. That's a span that has included three different coaches.
Ford's last head coaching gig came at Saint Louis, where he went 146-109 over eight seasons. He led the Billikens to one NCAA tournament in that span and four 20-win seasons.
Little Rock will transition to the United Athletic Conference in 2026-27.