Regardless of how Texas’ Big 12 tournament semifinal with TCU turns out on Friday night, we know the Longhorns will enter the NCAA tournament next week as a top-three seed and a legitimate contender to win the national title. Not only will the Longhorns go from employing Beard to facing him every single year, their own coaching decisions coming up in the next few weeks are fraught with tricky optics and disaster potential.
Given what was in the arrest report - accusations of choking and biting during a late-night altercation, with bruises and teeth marks observed by police - Texas would have looked like the most cynical and craven athletic department in college sports had it attempted to ride things out with Beard.īut for the Longhorns, it seems, doing the right thing isn't going to make life any easier this month.Īccording to multiple reports, Beard is likely to resurface immediately at Mississippi, which will attempt to sell the idea there’s nothing to see here because a bottom-rung SEC program has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to hire one of the best coaches in college basketball.įor Texas, which will join the SEC in 2024, it’s a double-whammy. Though the Travis County District Attorney dismissed the charges last month after Beard's fiancée recanted some of the allegations, making the case too difficult to successfully prosecute, Texas did not have much of a choice. 5 when it fired basketball coach Chris Beard less than a month after he was arrested and charged with a third-degree felony for domestic violence. The Red Raiders went to their first Elite Eight in his second season and made it to the national championship game in 2019.īeard led Little Rock to a 30-5 record and a Sun Belt Conference title in his lone season, making the second round of the NCAA Tournament.There is no doubt the University of Texas did the right thing on Jan. I am really looking forward to being an active part of the Oxford community."īeard spent five seasons at Texas Tech, going 112-55 at a program that had endured five losing seasons in the previous six years. "I can't express how grateful I am to Chancellor (Glenn) Boyce, Keith Carter and the rest of the search committee for their belief in me to lead this program. "I am honored to be joining the Ole Miss family and excited to get started at this great university," said Beard, who was 29-13 at Texas. He is 237-98 as a head coach and 11-5 in the NCAA Tournament. "After conducting due diligence and speaking to a number of individuals on and off the court, it was evident he is the right person to guide our team to greatness."īeard has led three different programs to the NCAA Tournament since 2016, including an appearance in the 2019 championship game and an Elite Eight run the year before at Texas Tech.
"We thoroughly evaluated a number of outstanding candidates, and there is no doubt Coach Beard is one of the top coaches in the nation," said Keith Carter, the school's vice chancellor for athletics.
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24 after going 74-79 in nearly five full seasons. She later said that Beard didn't choke her, and was defending himself, and that she never intended for Beard to be arrested and prosecuted.īeard replaces Kermit Davis, who was ousted on Feb. Beard was arrested when his fiancée, Randi Trew, called 911 and told officers that Beard strangled, bit and hit her during a confrontation in his home. 12 arrest and fired him three weeks later when Texas officials told Beard's attorney he was "unfit" to lead the program. A prosecutor said his office determined that the charge of assault by strangulation/suffocation-family violence could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Beard is a four-time conference coach of the year and was AP's national coach of the year in 2019.īut his two-year tenure at alma mater Texas ended abruptly in January, though felony domestic charges were ultimately dismissed on Feb. The Rebels announced Beard's hiring on Monday and will introduce him Tuesday in a public event at the SBJ Pavilion.
Mississippi has hired Chris Beard as its basketball coach just over two months after his firing from Texas following a domestic violence arrest.
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