Chris Beard is set to be the head coach of the Power Five again.
heyLe Mis announced Monday that it has hired the former Texas state head coach as its new men’s basketball coach. Beard was fired by Texas in early January after he was charged with felony domestic violence following an altercation with his fiancée at their home in Austin in December.
The charge against Beard was dropped in mid-February. The Travis County District Attorney stated that “after a careful and thorough review of the evidence” and public statements from Beard’s fiancée, the allegation could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Shortly after Beard was arrested, Beard’s fiancée said via a statement from her attorney that she had initiated the confrontation with Beard and that he had acted in self-defense.
Police officials had said that after being called, they saw a bite mark on his right hand and scratch marks on his body.
Shortly after his arrest, Beard was placed on leave and Rodney Terry was named interim coach of the team.
“We are excited to welcome Coach Beard and his daughters, Avery, Ella and Margo, to the Ole Miss family,” Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter said in a statement. “We have thoroughly evaluated several outstanding candidates, and there is no doubt that Coach Beard is one of the top coaches in the country. After doing due diligence and speaking with numerous individuals on and off the court, it is clear that He is a top coach. The right person to lead our team to greatness.”
“At each stage in his career, Coach Beard has proven to be a program builder and a dynamic leader whose teams work tirelessly. He is a tireless recruiter and develops talent to reach their greatest potential. Coached at many levels of basketball. And competed for championships at every school. Simply put, Coach Beard is a winner, and the best years of Ole Miss basketball are ahead of us under his leadership.”
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Ole Miss fired Kermit Davis in February
The Rebels made a coaching change on February 24 when they fired coach Kermit Davis with three games to go in the regular season. Ole Miss was 10–18 overall and 2–13 in the SEC when Davis was fired. The Rebels went 1–2 in their final three regular season games under interim coach Vin Case.
Ole Miss has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2019 and has not advanced past the second weekend of the tournament since 2013. The Rebels have made just two NCAA appearances since it made the Sweet 16 as the No. 12 seed 10 years in a row. Earlier
Davis has compiled a 74–79 record at Ole Miss since 2018–19. He came to the Rebels from Middle Tennessee State. Ole Miss had a winning record in just one season since making the tournament in Davis’ first season with the team.
Beard has a .701 winning percentage
Beard was eight games into his second season at Texas before being placed on leave by the school. The Longhorns were 7–1 at the time and look to go 22–12 in 2021–22.
He comes to Texas after five years at Texas Tech where the Red Raiders made the NCAA Tournament three times and advanced to the Final Four in 2019. Texas Tech was 31–7 that season and lost to Virginia in the national title game.
Prior to being hired at Tech, Beard was the coach at Little Rock for one season in 2015–16. Little Rock was 30–5 that year and entered the tournament as the No. 12 seed. The Trojans upset No. 5 Purdue before losing to No. 4 seed Iowa State in the second round.
