Arkansas Hires ESPN's Dykes to Coach Women's Team

Arkansas has announced the hiring of former ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes as the school's new women's basketball coach.

Dykes replaces Tom Collen, who was fired earlier this month after going 132-90 in seven seasons and reaching the NCAA tournament just once in seven seasons.

Dykes hasn't coached since serving as an assistant under Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State from 1990-91. He played and graduated from Arkansas, where he later was an assistant under Sutton.

He also coached at Sacramento State, Appalachian State, Kentucky and Arkansas-Little Rock before working as an NBA scout from 1991-93 and high school athletic director at Shiloh Christian in Springdale, Ark.

Despite his lack of coaching in the women's game, Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long says Dykes is "the best leader for our women's program."