Arkansas-Little Rock fires men's coach Shields

Mar 18, 2015 - 11:08 PM Little Rock, AR (SportsNetwork.com) - Arkansas-Little Rock fired men's basketball coach Steve Shields on Wednesday after 12 seasons.

Shields, 50, had one year remaining on his contract and was coming off a 13-18 season that ended with a loss to South Alabama in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament.

"I want to thank Steve for all he has done for this program, including being a mentor and leader to our student-athletes," UALR athletic director Chasse Conque said in a statement. "He held his players accountable, and his team's academic achievements are something we are very proud of. This was a tough decision, but one that I felt was best for our program at this time."

Shields went 192-178 as coach of the Trojans, leading them to consecutive 20- win seasons in 2007-08 and 2008-09 and to the program's first NCAA Tournament berth in 21 years after winning the conference tournament in 2011.