Texas Tech basketball: Why Chris Beard was no-brainer Coach of the Year

No coach suffered more attrition this offseason

By now, it has been well-documented how Chris Beard had to replace six of last year’s top eight scorers from a team that reached the Elite 8.  Included in that number was All-American point guard Keenan Evans and NBA first round pick Zhaire Smith, Tech’s first ever one-and-done player.

But don’t overlook the fact that Beard had to replace 5 seniors, including three that had been with the program four four seasons in Evans, Justin Gray and Zach Smith.  That left a tremendous leadership void on the roster and as we can see by the makeup of this year’s Final Four teams, senior leadership still matters in college basketball.

Overall, Beard had to replace 53.1 points, 21.6 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 4.6 steals and 3.4 blocks per game.  In other words, that is 70.6% of the scoring, 60.1% of the rebounding and 68% of the assists from a team that was one win shy of reaching the Final Four in 2018.  No coach in the nation had to undergo such a massive rebuilding effort and the fact that Beard was able to turn in an even better season this year is simply remarkable.