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Chris Beard is officially in the fold at Ole Miss.
A little more than 2 months after he was fired at Texas, Beard was named the coach, Ole Miss announced. Texas made the move after Beard faced a felony domestic family violence charge stemming from a Dec. 12 incident involving his fiancée. The case was later dropped by a local district attorney. At the time, he had 5 years left on a 7-year guaranteed contract that included a provision he could be fired for cause if he was charged with a felony or committed other behavior unbecoming of his position or that reflected poorly on the university.
Ole Miss touted Beard as a four-time conference coach of the year and 2019 national coach of the year.
Beard has led 3 different programs to the NCAA Tournament since 2016, including an appearance in the 2019 National Championship game and Elite Eight run the year before at Texas Tech.
As a head coach, he owns a 237-98 record for one of the top winning percentages among active coaches in the nation at 70.7%. Beard also owns a career mark of 11-5 at the NCAA Tournament, highlighted by a perfect 5-0 record in the opening round.
Connor O’Gara wrote about the expected hire last week, and noted that desperate times call for desperate measures.
Chris Beard Named Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Ole Miss#HottyToddy | https://t.co/qvOODULsdN pic.twitter.com/MxMF17PIcS
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) March 13, 2023
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
