Little Rock, Ark. – Stan Heath only can wonder what next season would have been like at Arkansas.

“I feel a little disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to coach what I think was going to be my best basketball team,” Heath said Monday.

Heath was fired after five seasons at Arkansas after losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. The Razorbacks made the NCAA Tournament thanks to a late-season run, but that was not enough to save Heath’s job. Arkansas (21-14) lost, 77-60, to Southern California in the first round.

Arkansas spokesman Kevin Trainor said Heath and athletic director Frank Broyles met Monday morning, and Broyles informed Heath of the decision.

“The decision to make a coaching change was difficult due to the respect I have for Stan Heath,” Broyles said in a release. “He represented the University of Arkansas with professionalism and integrity. … However, in my professional judgment, it is best that the program move forward under new leadership in our efforts to return Razorback basketball to national prominence.”

Heath met with reporters in Fayetteville shortly after the announcement.

“I’m a little surprised, but in this business, universities have the right to make decisions,” Heath said. “They have the right to make choices about what they want and what they feel is best for their university.”

Broyles, who is retiring at the end of the year, said the search for a replacement will begin immediately. Speculation has centered on Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie, but Arkansas said it won’t comment publicly on potential candidates.

A Texas A&M spokesman said Gillispie would have no comment on the Arkansas job.

Calipari inks extension

Memphis, Tenn. – John Calipari, who guided Memphis to the NCAA regional final for the second straight season, received a contract extension through 2012 on Monday.

Calipari’s name was tossed out as a candidate for job openings like Kentucky even before Memphis lost, 92-76, to top-seeded Ohio State in the South Regional on Saturday.

Memphis went 33-4 and 16-0 in Conference USA, and the Tigers enjoyed a 25-game winning streak before the loss to the Buckeyes.

Utah hires Michigan St. aide

Salt Lake City – Utah is set to hire Michigan State assistant Jim Boylen.

A person close to Boylen confirmed the move to the Associated Press on Monday. Utah officials wouldn’t confirm the hiring ahead of the news conference.

It will be the first head-coaching job for Boylen, who has been an assistant to Michigan State coach Tom Izzo the past two seasons after 13 years as an NBA assistant – including 11 years with the Houston Rockets and stints with Golden State and Milwaukee.

USD hires Gonzaga asst.

San Diego – Bill Grier had a hand in taking the Gonzaga Bulldogs from relative obscurity to perennial NCAA Tournament team.

Now he hopes to do the same with the San Diego Toreros.

Grier was introduced as USD’s head coach Monday, taking over 21â2 weeks after Brad Holland was fired following a 13-season run at the West Coast Conference school.

Accident kills UNC mascot

Newark, N.J. – Jason Ray, the North Carolina student who performed as a mascot for the school’s basketball team, died three days after being struck by a car before an NCAA Tournament game. He was 21 years old.