Darrell Walker will not return as the University of Arkansas at Little Rock men’s basketball coach.
Little Rock Director of Athletics Frank Cuervo announced Friday that Walker will not be retained following “thoughtful consideration of the direction of Trojans men’s basketball.” The Trojans are less than a week removed from a 72-62 loss to Lindenwood in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.
“I’ll place a high priority on identifying someone who shares our values, who prioritizes developing deep meaningful relationships with their players and someone who looks to have student-athletes excel in the classroom,” Cuervo said during a media-availability session Friday afternoon.
Friday’s announcement comes after a season that began with high expectations. Following a 19-14 finish and 12-8 OVC mark a year ago, Little Rock was picked to win the conference in a preseason coaches poll. Walker turned over most of the roster in the offseason, hoping a combination of transfers and local high school talent would propel the Trojans to a NCAA tournament berth.
Instead, injuries hit Little Rock in waves, including season-ending injuries to guards K.K. and Kellen Robinson and highly-touted freshman forward Terrion Burgess of Benton. The injuries forced Walker to rely on a thin playing rotation, especially at the guard spots.
Speaking Friday, Cuervo acknowledged the rash of injuries, but said he decided to move on from Walker after looking at the program as a whole while avoiding “recency bias.”
“It was a realization I came to over time, taking a look at where we are and talking to folks in the community,” Cuervo said. “I just got the sense it was time for a change. From a competitive standpoint, we haven’t been where we’ve wanted.”
The Trojans will transition to the United Athletic Conference over the summer, and Cuervo said his expectation is for the basketball program to consistently compete for conference championships.
“This is a place where you can achieve sustained competitive success,” Cuervo said. “It doesn’t need to be a once in a while thing, it needs to be an annual thing.”
Walker ends his run at Arkansas with a 113-133 (.459) record over eight years. A popular choice and familiar name when he was hired in 2018, Walker played at Westark College (now Arkansas-Fort Smith) for a year before transferring to the University of Arkansas. From there, Walker played in the NBA for ten years, suiting up for the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and others.
Walker would go on to coach professional basketball from 1995 to 2014 before taking over Division 2 Clark Atlanta for two years prior to his hire at Little Rock.
Cuervo said Friday that he will continue to work with Little Rock’s alums and stakeholders to ensure the new coach will have financial resources to attract top players through revenue-sharing and Name Image and Likeness endorsement opportunities.
“That’s critical,” Cuervo said. “Being able to go to market to compensate student athletes to be here, that are going to compete at the highest level, it’s never been more important.”
Cuervo said the athletic department is also taking a look at operations, the number of scheduled home games, how the program travels and other aspects to ensure future players have an ideal experience.
“Right now, I view my job as to tear down any road block that’s in place for success,” Cuervo said.
Cuervo said Friday that he will look toward outside consultation in evaluating candidates for the position.
“We’ll use the help of a search firm,” Cuervo said.
The Trojans finished the 2025-26 season at 9-11 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 12-20 overall. Little Rock won the OVC regular season title two seasons ago.
Feature Photo Credit: lrtrojans.com
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