Arkansas Reporter Claims Chris Beard Hasn't Signed Extension With Ole Miss Causing Fans To Lose Their Minds

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The Ole Miss basketball program announced on March 13, a day before the Rebels' final game of the season, that it had agreed to terms on a new contract with head coach Chris Beard. Now, just weeks later, with the college basketball coaching carousel spinning, a report suggests Beard hasn't actually put pen to paper.

Jacob Davis, a reporter and recruiting analyst for All Hogs of Sports Illustrated, shared the report of Beard not "officially" signing his new contract with Ole Miss.

The fact that the report comes from someone with ties to Arkansas doesn't feel like a coincidence given the state that the Hogs' basketball program is in.

Arkansas had an incredibly disappointing campaign, going 16-17 on the year, winning just six games in the SEC. Rumors were swirling throughout the season that head coach Eric Musselman could be looking for a way out of Fayetteville, and it appears that opportunity has presented itself with the head coaching vacancy at USC.

Musselman has emerged as the Trojans' top candidate according to multiple insiders. Not only is he considered to be one of the top coaches and recruiters in the country, but he also has ties to California, having graduated from the University of San Diego. 

If Musselman were to jump ship for Los Angeles, then Beard would undeniably be on some sort of short list for the Arkansas vacancy, and he'd likely listen, given the Razorbacks' NIL situation for hoops is in a much better place than Ole Miss' and win-now mode is a constant in Fayetteville, but not so much in Oxford.

As for whether Beard has signed the extension, that detail doesn't exactly matter.

In today's world of college coaching, extensions have become a formality and an excuse for a program to share a press release. Coaches bail from programs with multiple years left on their contracts when other opportunities arise.

Having said that, the claim that Beard has not signed his new contract seems like a stretch given Ole Miss published a lengthy release about his new deal with direct quotes from the head coach.

Nevertheless, fans of both the Rebels and the Hogs reacted accordingly to the new report.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.