Coming off his first season as a Division I coach, Beard is leaving Little Rock to become the next head coach at UNLVBeard led the Trojans to a school- and Sun Belt Conference-record 30 wins and the program's fifth NCAA Tournament bid after they went 13-18 in 2014-15. Little Rock upset No. 5 seed Purdue as a 12th seed in the opening round for its first NCAA Tournament win in three decades.

The Trojans started the season with 10 straight wins, another conference record, and went undefeated at home for the first time since 1981-82.

Beard previously worked as an assistant coach at Texas and Texas Tech before landing the job at Little Rock. He also served as a head coach at two junior colleges, two Division II schools and a semipro team.