FAYETTEVILLE — Mike Anderson's staff at Arkansas will look identical to his one at Missouri.
Assistant coaches T.J. Cleveland, Matt Zimmerman and Melvin Watkins, director of basketball operations Jeff Daniels, and strength and conditioning coach David Deets will all join Anderson at Arkansas, leaving their posts at Missouri, the UA announced Wednesday.
“I’m very excited to have these guys join me at Arkansas,” Anderson said in a release. “They are very familiar with the system that I want to run. We enjoy working with one another and to me that makes the ultimate team. Having those guys want to be a part of what we are doing at Arkansas provides continuity which will ultimately help build a better team.”
Cleveland and Zimmerman are both Arkansas graduates. Cleveland, Anderson's nephew, played for the Razorbacks from 1998-2002, while Zimmerman served as a manager for the basketball program from 1986-90. Both have been with Anderson in some capacity since 2002.
Watkins is a former college head coach at Texas A&M and UNC Charlotte and has served on Anderson's staff since 2006.
Scotty Thurman will remain on the Arkansas staff in his administrative role as director of player development, which he began last summer.
Anderson was hired by Arkansas on March 23. A 17-year assistant coach at the school, Anderson was 200-98 in nine seasons as head coach at Alabama-Birmingham and Missouri.