SPRINGDALE — Springdale Southwest Junior High coach Steve Price and former Rogers High coach Marty Barnes are among the finalists for the boys head coaching position at Springdale Har-Ber.

Price and Barnes, along with Benton coach Chris Nail and Greene County Tech coach Scott Bowlin, are scheduled to meet next week with Springdale Schools Superintendent Jim Rollins.

Har-Ber is searching for a replacement for Adam Simmons, who resigned March 7 after the Wildcats finished 9-19 and 4-10 in 7A/6A-West Conference play. Simmons coached Har-Ber for three years after he arrived from Camden Fairview.

“We’ve had about three dozen people who’ve either applied or expressed interest in the job” said Wayne Stehlik, athletic director for Springdale Public Schools. “The process was slowed by spring break, but we’ve picked it up and we could have a coach by the end of next week.”

Stehlik heads a search committee that includes Har-Ber girls basketball coach Sandy Wright, Har-Ber football coach Chris Wood and Har-Ber Principal Danny Brackett. Stehlik said that someone other than one of the four final could still get the job if the committee chooses to look elsewhere.

Springdale High assistant boys basketball coach Greg White withdrew his name for consideration after initially inquiring about the Har-Ber vacancy. White has decided to stay at Springdale, where he’s an assistant to head coach Brad Stamps.

The Bulldogs will return some top talent from a team that finished 18-10 this season.

“We had conversations with Greg, but he decided he wanted to stay at Springdale,” Stehlik said of White, who was head coach at Shiloh Christian before joining the Bulldogs’ staff. “They’re building something very good at Springdale, and he wanted to stay and help Brad.”

Barnes, 63, announced his retirement from Rogers last spring after 31 years as a high school and college coach. He spent his final eight seasons at Rogers after coaching for 11 years at Russellville and 12 years as Arkansas Tech’s coach.

He won a state championship with Russellville in 1985.

Price has helped develop basketball talent in Springdale for 30 years as the coach at Southwest Junior High. He has two sons who are coaches, Jeremy, an assistant at George Junior High in Springdale, and Sean, the head coach at Gentry.

Nail led Benton to a record of 27-3 and a conference record of 13-0 this season. Greene County Tech finished 11-14 under Bowlin this spring, but he led the Golden Eagles to state championships in 2007 and 2009.

The new Har-Ber coach will continue to face a rebuilding project after the Wildcats lost seniors Alex Rice and Justin Malott, their two leading scorers from last year.

“Whatever the style may be, we want a coach who can develop players and get the kids to play hard for 32 minutes,” Stehlik said.