Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – March 24, 2025 – From the moment Bryan Hodgson was announced as Arkansas State University’s head basketball coach on March 22, 2023, fans were pessimistic about how long he would stay. “He won’t be here long.” “We won’t be able to keep him.” “Give him a year or two and he’ll be gone.”
After last year’s championship game appearance in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament the optimism about Hodgson’s second year was high, but still there was the feeling Hodgson wouldn’t be in Jonesboro long. One long-time fan at the beginning of the season said, “He may be gone after this year, but I’m going to ride the wave as long as I can.”
The former Alabama assistant coach and lead recruiter made it two days shy of two years. Hodgson Monday was announced as the new head coach of the University of South Florida (USF). He replaces Amir Abdur-Rahim, who guided USF to the program’s only regular-season conference title in the 2023-24 season before passing away last October. Under interim coach Ben Fletcher, the Bulls finished 13-19 this past season.
Hodgson led Arkansas State to a 45-28 record as well as two Sun Belt Championship appearances in his two years in Jonesboro. The Red Wolves competed in the first two rounds of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) defeating St. Louis last Tuesday before losing to North Texas in Denton, TX Sunday night.
There had been rampant social media posts Monday that Hodgson was going to be named the next head coach at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV). Trey Schapp of Little Rock had posted on his X account earlier today “A State MBB Head Coach Bryan Hodgson will be the next HC at UNLV, deal is done.” Four hours later Schapp tweeted, “Source was jumping on a plane as he hung up phone with me. His agent got him more $$$$ and longer deal with South Florida instead of UNLV. I would rather live in Tampa than Vegas also.”
The Arkansas State Athletics Department issued the following statement:
“We want to thank Bryan Hodgson for everything he has done the last two years to elevate our men’s basketball program here at Arkansas State,” said A-State Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics Jeff Purinton. “We have enjoyed a great amount of success the last two years, including a Sun Belt Conference regular-season title, school-record 25 wins and an appearance in the NIT this year. Those achievements are a testament to the hard work by both our student-athletes and coaching staff. We’ve seen our home attendance and brand grow exponentially, so there is a tremendous amount of excitement surrounding our program right now as we immediately begin a national search for the next head men’s basketball coach at Arkansas State University.”
Arkansas State will begin an immediate national search for its 18th all-time head men’s basketball coach.
Hodgson in late January had agreed to a contract extension through 2031. The extension raised Hodgson’s salary from $450,000 to $675,000. With built-in salary increases each season, total compensation in the contract would have been $4,425,000 by 2031. The extension also raised Hodgson’s year one contract buyout to $1 million, but that buyout level didn’t take effect until April 1, 2025. It is believed USF will pay a $900,000 buyout based on the terms of Hodgson’s contract bump that he agreed to in March, 2024.