Texas basketball appears to be one of the teams on the rise in the sport, and it helps to have a head coach like Chris Beard at the helm.
After successful stints at Arkansas Little Rock and Texas Tech, Beard took the job at Texas and led the program to their first NCAA tournament win since 2015.
Beard has key players such as Marcus Carr coming back, a couple of five-stars in Arterio Morris and Dillon Mitchell arriving to campus, and landed one of the best transfers in Tyrese Hunter. The Longhorns are believed to be poised for a deep run.
247Sports ranked the top 25 coaches in college basketball right now, and Beard came in at No. 15. Here is what they said about the second-year coach at Texas.
Chris Beard just knows what it takes to win. He’s risen up the ranks. From guiding Arkansas Little Rock to an upset win over Purdue in the 2016 NCAA Tournament to leading Texas Tech to the national championship game in 2019, Beard has already put together an awesome resume. Beard is in the process of building a major contender in Texas. The Longhorns have key veterans returning in Timmy Allen and Marcus Carr combined with jaw-dropping freshmen Dillon Mitchell and Arterio Morris. Beard has built an NCAA Tournament team in each of the last five seasons. It’s only a matter of time until Beard has a Final Four contender at Texas.
Beard and company are poised for success this next season, but will have a lot of work to do this offseason to make up for the lack of shooting and the fact that they do not have a big man.