In one of the weirdest days in college basketball memory, the Texas Longhorns have snagged Chris Beard to be their replacement for Shaka Smart, who left the program for Marquette recently. Beard was last seen having an insane amount of success with Texas Tech.
This news was reported by various people. However, for the sake of giving someone credit, it did appears as though Stadium’s Jeff Goodman came up with the news first.
This is obviously a terrific hire for Texas.
Chris Beard went to school at Texas, and has done an incredible job in his time at Texas Tech. Took the Red Raiders to a national title game, and an Elite Eight appearance. https://t.co/wFHJEenSkO
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 1, 2021
This is honestly great timing by the Texas Longhorns. Under the assumption the program has been in talks with Chris Beard for at least a little bit, entrenching themselves in his life, it’s good they got to him before the North Carolina Tar Heels announced that legendary coach Roy Williams was retiring.
As soon as that announcement came, people quickly began to link Beard to the gig, as he’s one of the nation’s best college basketball coaches.
This, on a surface level, appears to be a pretty clear upgrade for the Longhorns. Shaka Smart, who is a fine coach, basically got out of dodge before dodge got him. His time with Texas was, politely, underwhelming. On the other hand, Chris Beard — still operating in the same state with similar recruiting pipelines — was building something special with Texas Tech.
Only time will tell how this truly goes, but for now, Chris Beard to Texas is absolutely a win for the Longhorns.
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