LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – UALR head men’s basketball coach Steve Shields announced today that junior guard De’Andre Eggins will not return for the 2008-09 season.

“De’Andre and I came to a mutual decision that it would be in his and our team’s best interest for him to pursue other opportunities,” said Shields. “We appreciate the contributions De’Andre made to our program the past three seasons and wish him the best in the future.”

Eggins came to UALR from Peabody Magnet High School, where he helped the Warhorses to the 2004 Louisiana state title and a No. 5 national ranking by USA Today. He played in 83 games with 41 starts over the past three seasons, averaging 8.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

As a sophomore, Eggins ranked third on the team in scoring with a career-high 11.4 points-per-game average. After playing 27.5 minutes per game in 2006-07, Eggins saw his minutes drop to 20.9 per game in 2007-08. He played in 30 games with 17 starts as a junior, and averaged 7.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, while shooting a personal-best 41.1 percent from the field.

UALR is coming off a 2007-08 season which saw the Trojans win their third Sun Belt Conference division title in Shields’ five seasons as head coach, while reaching 20 wins for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign.