Texas Tech basketball: New practice facility all about keeping Chris Beard

Friday, the Texas Tech basketball program officially broke ground on the new Womble Basketball Center which, at its core, is all about keeping Chris Beard happy in Lubbock.

Unfortunately, it has been fairly rare for the Texas Tech basketball program to have something that the vast majority of programs in the nation covet. But now that Chris Beard has turned the Red Raiders into a nationally relevant program in just three years on the job, other schools are bound to come sniffing around.

That’s why it is imperative that Texas Tech do everything possible to make certain that their magnetic head coach is satisfied is Lubbock. Friday, the school’s biggest move towards ensuring that Beard has everything he needs to build the type of program that will keep him a Red Raider for as long as possible began to take shape.

With the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Dustin R. Womble Basketball Center, the Texas Tech basketball program has begun construction on a state-of-the-art training and practice facility for both the men’s and women’s programs. The facility will house new weight rooms, coaches’ offices, training facilities and practice courts alleviating the overcrowding problem at the United Supermarkets Arena.

With only one practice court, the U.S.A. is ill-equipped to meet the needs of both basketball programs, the volleyball program and the cheerleading teams, all of which currently try to co-exist in the 20-year-old facility. But the new basketball palace will alleviate that traffic jam while also helping the basketball programs to step up their ability to complete in the ever-escalating college athletics arms race.

"“Obviously, this facility is going to be transcending in terms of recruiting and stuff like that. But, also, more important is the player development,” Beard told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.“Development is everything. So now we have a top-notch facility that will be open 24/7, 365 where our guys can get better.”"

Without a doubt, this facility is long overdue. Texas Tech is one of the last teams in the Big 12 without a separate basketball practice facility which has hurt the program over the years. While fans are more apt to care about the quality of the game day arena, of which, Texas Tech may have one of the best in the nation, players and (more importantly) recruits care more about the day-to-day comforts that will define their collegiate careers.

That is where Tech has lagged behind the rest of the competition for years. But now, the $29.5 million facility will give the Red Raiders, and Chris Beard, every opportunity to compete with any program in the nation in terms of bells and whistles.

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And make no mistake, this move is all about keeping Beard happy in Lubbock. Recently, he has become one of the hottest names in the game and as someone who might draw interest from UCLA. In fact, at halftime of Texas Tech’s game against Iowa State, ESPN studio analyst Seth Greenberg said that if he was in charge at UCLA, Beard would be the candidate he would target.

And Texas Tech fans shudder to think about the possibility of Beard returning to his alma mater, the University of Texas. As the Longhorns continue to languish in mediocrity, Shaka Smart’s seat continues to become less and less comfortable in Austin. It is hard to envision Smart surviving too much longer considering that the powers that be on the 40 acres are certain to want the program to be a national contender in 2021 when their new $338 million arena opens.

There is no doubt that Texas, and any number of other programs that may be looking for a change of direction, would have an interest in Beard meaning Tech must do everything it can to make this job as attractive as possible to its head coach. It is a nice problem to have and one that we have seen in recent years with other programs on campus.

In 2016, Texas Tech head baseball coach Tim Tadlock was heavily courted by the Longhorns but he turned them down to sign an extension with the Red Raiders a short time later. To keep Tadlock happy, Tech has made significant upgrades to Rip Griffin Park and will continue to update the baseball facility once the adjacent Lubbock Municipal Coliseum is demolished later this year.

And remember when Tech was actually worried that Kliff Kingsbury was going to be poached away by a blue-blood program? After giving him a substantial contract extension and raise following his 8-5 first season, Tech also provided the football program with an indoor practice facility that rivals any in the nation and in 2017 funded an overhaul of the locker room facilities.

What’s more, head soccer coach Tom Stone has received a new facility, the John Walker Soccer Complex, and track and field head coach Wes Kittley now has the premier indoor facility in the country. Credit Texas Tech for rewarding their successful head coaches by giving them the type of facilities that will take their programs to the next level. And in the process, Tech has been able to keep these coaches happy in Lubbock.

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Now it is time for AD Kirby Hocutt and the university to ensure that Chris Beard feels appreciated and empowered to take his program where few dared imagine it could ever go. Most believe that Beard is only scratching the surface on what he can accomplish and it seems like it is only a matter of time until he finds his way to the top of the college basketball mountain. By building the Womble practice facility, Texas Tech is doing all it can to ensure that when Beard gets to the top, he will do so with a Double-T on his chest.

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