UCA Athletic Director Brad Teague announced that Men’s Basketball Head Coach Anthony Boone was fired with no immediate replacement in line, according to a news release published March 2. 

Teague said he could not elaborate on the reason for firing Boone, who has worked in the athletics department since 2014; the news came just one day after the men’s basketball team failed to qualify for the ASUN Conference tournament for the second year in a row after losing to the University of North Alabama on March 1.

“Anthony Boone is a model of leadership,” Teague said in the news release. “We could not have asked for a better person to lead our young men. That made the decision to change our direction much more difficult. But, I decided we needed to find a new leader to explore the possibilities of this program.”

“I want to thank coach Boone and his staff for many years of hard work and professionalism for our program. Great coaches of character bring great students of character. We have certainly enjoyed that success here,” Teague said in the news release. “We will move quickly and efficiently to find our new head coach. We will focus on coaching experience, character, and recruiting success.”

Boone joined the athletics department in March 2014 as an associate coach. In March 2020, he became head coach of the men’s basketball team. 

The men’s basketball team finished its season with nine wins and 23 losses overall with five wins and 11 losses in conference games. 

The best season the Bears had under Boone’s coaching was in 2021-2022 with 11 wins and 20 losses overall and seven wins and nine losses in conference games. This was also the only season under Boone that the men’s basketball team qualified for the ASUN tournament where the Jacksonville University Dolphins knocked the Bears out in the quarterfinal round.

The search for a new head coach is “going very well,” Teague said over email.

“There is great interest in our program and this opportunity,” Teague said. “We are waiting for seasons and tournaments to end so we hope to have someone named late next [this] week.” 

Freshman guard Gavin Muse said the team learned of the decision “when he [Boone] called a team meeting and came in and told us the news.”

“It was obviously a surprise and it was hard hearing the news but I’m excited about the future of UCA Men’s Basketball and I hope we come back stronger than ever next year,” Muse said.

“I hope the new coach brings a new life to the team because, at the end of the year, we were just all worn out,” Muse said. “It seemed like we had no life in us.”

“Coach Boone was a great role model for me and my teammates and he always helped us be better people and teammates,” Muse said. 

The men’s basketball team will not play again until its next season in the fall.