Mike Anderson was officially named the men’s basketball coach at the University of Arkansas Wednesday evening, ending weeks of speculation. Anderson, who spent the first 17 years of his career as an assistant under Nolan Richardson at Arkansas, formally requested permission to speak with Arkansas athletic department officials Wednesday morning.

“At 12:30 today, the chancellor’s office and myself, we visited with Coach Anderson on a conference call, and at that time he asked us directly for permission to talk to another institution,” Missouri Athletic Director Mike Alden said. “We granted that permission at about 1 o’clock this afternoon…I met with Coach Anderson at 6:45 today in his office and he informed me at that time that he would be resigning his position at the University of Missouri as our head men’s basketball coach.”

Arkansas is bringing in Anderson in the hopes that he can re-invigorate a program that has recently fallen on hard times.

“Under Mike’s leadership, I am confident the Razorbacks will be successful in the future on and off the court,” Arkansas Athletics Director Jeff Long said. “The decision to hire Mike Anderson as head coach is based on my firm belief that he is the right person to lead the Razorback program today and in the years to come.”

Although Anderson did not participate in Missouri’s press conference Wednesday night, he did speak privately with his players before any official announcements were made. Junior Kim English said that Anderson explained to the team that Arkansas was “a special place” to him, but reassured them that they were like family to him.

“(Arkansas) was a special place to him, a place he spent 17 years,” a visibly-shaken English said. “We were his family and I believe those words and he made sure to let us know that we experienced an amazing run with him and some special things. He let us know that if we ever needed anything from him we can always pick up the phone and call him. I definitely believed his words. I heard and saw his sincerity in the way he talked to us.”

Known around the nation for his trademark “Fastest Forty Minutes in Basketball,” Anderson is remembered by Missouri fans for returning the school’s program to national prominence, following the controversial final seasons of his predecessor, Quin Snyder.

Anderson is leaving behind a total of seven seniors, including English, Marcus Denmon and Lawrence Bowers, who were a part of the team’s Elite 8 run in 2009.

“I came here to play for Missouri,” Bowers said. “At the time, coach Anderson was here at Missouri, so it was kind of like me playing for both. For coach Anderson to resign and go play for Arkansas, it really hit hard with me. I took it really hard, being that I’ve known him for my whole life. I play for Missouri. You can’t dwell on the past, it happened. Coach has moved on, so hopefully Missouri can move on.”

Although the team is still reeling from the departure of their coach, it was apparent during the press conference that the team is still focused on winning basketball games.

“Our senior leadership will carry us to the promised land,” Denmon said. “Coach Anderson used to always stress to us about winning the national championship, well, he installed that in us three and we still plan on winning a national championship even though he’s in Arkansas.”

The question now for Missouri is who their next head coach will be. Alden said he, along with Associate Athletics Director Whit Babcock, special assistant Gary Link, and Deputy Chancellor Mike Middleton, who actually assisted Alden in the search that landed Anderson, will be conducting the search for the team’s next coach.

“Our communications with those candidates is going to be you got to be looking at this as like ‘the spot’. You have to want to be there,” Alden said. “This isn’t just about this job. This is about wanting to be at Mizzou. This is about wanting to be in Missouri. This is about wanting to be a part of who we are. That’s a tough thing to be able to qualify and shying away from someone who might have connections to some other places, that might be kind of tough.”

No timetable has been set for the selection of a new coach.