Chris Beard takes over the Ole Miss basketball program

Chris Beard didn’t have to wait long to find a new gig.

The Ole Miss Rebels are  removing themselves from the coaching carousel and hiring the next men’s basketball head coach.

It was first reported by college basketball insider Jon Rothstein that the Rebels are finalizing a deal with Chris Beard. Beard was fired from Texas during the season following an arrest for assault against a family member. The charges were eventually dropped but not before the Longhorns decided to move on. Ole Miss later confirmed that Beard would take over the program.

During his short tenure in Austin, Beard was 29-13 and 10-8 in Big 12 play. Beard wouldn’t coach a single conference game for the 2022-23 season after being suspended just nine games into the season. Prior to his time with his alma mater, Beard coached Texas Tech for five seasons. During that time he was 112-55 and 49-40 in conference play.

Beard led Tech to an Elite Eight finish in 2018 and the NCAA runner-up the following season. Now he will attempt to turn around an Ole Miss program that finished 23-37 and 6-27 over the last two seasons.

The best success for the Rebels since 2000 came in the 2001 NCAA Tournament when Ole Miss reached the Sweet 16 but fell to Arizona. Beard will be looking to reach the level of success he achieved with the Red Raiders.

Beard will replace the outgoing Kermit Davis, who finished 74-79 and reached the NCAA Tournament just once in his five seasons with the Rebels.

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