The Central Arkansas Bears just authored the most successful season in the program's NCAA Division I history — and they did it with a roster built on Arkansas kids, a coach in his second year, and an offense that lit up scoreboards across the league. The 2025-26 Bears went 22-12 overall and 15-3 in conference play, captured the program's first Division I regular-season conference title, won 11 straight league games, and reached the conference championship game for the first time. Head coach John Shulman was named conference Coach of the Year and promptly signed a contract extension through the 2029-30 season. In Conway, the Bears aren't knocking on the door anymore. They kicked it in.
The turnaround was as dramatic as it was fast. Shulman's first season in 2024-25 ended 10th in the league at 4-14 in conference play — a foundation year in every sense. Year two brought a program-record 22 wins, a record 15 conference wins, the longest winning streak in school history, and the highest conference finish the Bears have ever managed. UCA closed the season winning 15 of its final 17 games, with all three conference losses coming in overtime on the road. Athletic director Matt Whiting called it a new standard for men's basketball at Central Arkansas, and the school backed the words with investment: new NIL infrastructure and plans for a new on-campus arena.
The engine of the breakthrough was an offense that ranked among the nation's most entertaining. Central Arkansas finished in the top 20 nationally in three-point rate — the Bears bombed away and made enough of them to matter. All-conference guard Ty Robinson, an all-freshman selection as well, averaged 14 points per game while shooting over 37 percent from deep and ranking second in the league in steal rate. Cole McCormick posted a 59 percent true-shooting mark with real rebounding production. Sophomore Luke Moore finished top 10 in the conference in assist rate as a lead-guard creator. And Harrison Beauchamp shot 43 percent from three, among the league's best marks. The defense did its part by forcing turnovers and running opponents off the three-point line — a balanced, modern formula.
The one piece that won't be back is the biggest one. Camren Hunter, the league's Player of the Year and the star who carried the Bears through the title run, exhausted his eligibility — his departure is the single largest question of the 2026-27 season. Shulman's answer is retention plus targeted additions: the core of Robinson, McCormick, Moore, and Beauchamp returns, and the 2026-27 signing class leans hard into the program's identity. Four Arkansas natives — Camarion Bead, Isaiah Templeton, RJ Young, and Tucker Anderson — headline a six-man class that also includes Ohio's Andrew Hoerner and Estonia's Simm Marten Saadi. 'Getting guys that truly care about Central Arkansas is very important to us,' Shulman said. 'For these in-state players, it just means more.'
The conference landscape is shifting under the Bears' feet — in a good way. After years in the ASUN, Central Arkansas moves into the newly formed United Athletic Conference for 2026-27, joining a league that brings together familiar foes and new rivalries. The 16-game conference slate and the UAC Tournament (March 10-14) will decide whether the Bears can defend their regular-season crown in a new home. The league's preseason chatter has UCA among the favorites, and the target on the Bears' back is the price of last season's success.
The program's most famous chapter was written by a Razorback legend. Corliss Williamson — 'Big Nasty,' the 1994 national champion at Arkansas — coached the Bears from 2010 to 2013, bringing instant credibility to the Conway program. Having a national champion on the sideline put Central Arkansas on the map during its Division I adolescence, and the standard of a champion in the gym every day remains part of the program's lore. The Bears' Division I journey began in 2006 with the jump from Division II and a move into the Southland Conference; the years since have been a slow construction of identity in the shadow of Arkansas and Arkansas State.
The Farris Center is the program's home: an intimate Conway venue where the Bears' faithful bring real noise. It's the kind of building where a good team becomes genuinely tough to beat — and the Bears were very good at home during the title run. With a new on-campus arena in the planning stages, the Farris Center era is building toward a grand finale.
What hasn't changed is the mission. The Bears have never reached the Division I NCAA Tournament, and in a one-bid league world, the conference tournament is everything. Last season's run to the championship game was the closest the program has ever come. The 2026-27 season is about finishing the job: defending a title, winning in March, and cutting down nets that would define the program forever.
What defines Central Arkansas is the velocity of the arrival: from 4-14 in league play to champions in twelve months, behind a coach the school just locked up through 2030 and a roster full of Arkansas kids who chose to stay home. In Conway, the Bears' first dance is no longer a dream. It's the expectation.