Beard Named NABC District COY; Hagins on First Team

LITTLE ROCK – Josh Hagins has been named to the NABC Coaches Division I All-District 24 First Team and Chris Beard was named the District Coach of the Year, the organization announced Friday.
 
Beard, who was also named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, led Little Rock to a program-best 30-5 overall record. The Trojans won the Sun Belt's regular-season and tournament titles en route to the program's fifth NCAA Tournament appearance.
 
Little Rock's double-overtime win over Purdue in the first round of the NCAA Tournament was the program's first tournament victory in three decades.
 
Beard's 30 wins tie him for sixth-most on the list of first-year Division I head coaches. Little Rock became the first team in Sun Belt Conference history to win 30 games in a season.
 
Hagins finished his senior season averaging 13.2 points, 4.7 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.
 
In Little Rock's win over No. 5 Purdue, Hagins totaled 31 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals to become the first player in NCAA Tournament history to post a line of 30-5-5-5.
 
Hagins scored 29 of his career-high 31 points after halftime and hit game-tying shots near the end of regulation and the first overtime period. On his own, he outscored Purdue 21-20 over the final five minutes of regulation and overtime.
 
A 6-1 guard, Hagins shot 45.3 percent from the floor, 38.3 percent from 3 and 83.7 percent from the foul line. He picked up First Team All-Sun Belt honors in early March and was named to the league's All-Tournament team following the Trojans' tournament title.
 
The Airline HS product ends his career ranked third on Little Rock's all-time scoring list (1,475 points), third in assists (468), third in steals (179), fifth in made field goals (525) and fifth in made 3-pointers (175). He played more games (128) than any player in program history and trails only Derek Fisher on the program's list for career minutes (3,496).
 
Hagins is Little Rock's First Team All-District selection since Solomon Bozeman in 2011.
 
District 24 Coach of the Year 
Chris Beard, Little Rock

District 24 First Team
Shawn Long, Louisiana
Majok Deng, ULM
Josh Hagins, Little Rock
Tookie Brown, Georgia Southern
Frank Eaves, Appalachian State
 
District 24 Second Team
Wesley Person, Troy
Erik Neal, UT Arlington
Justin Roberson, ULM
Devin Carter, Arkansas State
Jeremy Hollowell, Georgia State