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Texas Tech basketball: ESPN says Chris Beard 9th-best hire of last 25 years

By Matthew Conner

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 30: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders cuts the net after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional at Honda Center on March 30, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 30: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders cuts the net after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional at Honda Center on March 30, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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ESPN recently released a list of the 25 best hires in the last 25 years of college basketball and Chris Beard checks in at No. 9 on the list.

Just over four years ago, the future of Texas Tech basketball was changed forever when Chris Beard was hired to replace Tubby Smith, who unexpectedly bolted for Memphis after leading the Red Raiders to the NCAA Tournament.  In hindsight, we all owe Memphis and Coach Smith a huge debt of gratitude.

This week, ESPN released its list of the 25 best college basketball hires of the last 25 years, and not surprisingly, Beard is on that list.   After all, he took one of the most downtrodden programs in a major conference to the Elite Eight and National Title Game in consecutive seasons.

Beard is the No. 9 hire on ESPN’s list.  That puts him one spot ahead of West Virginia’s Bob Huggins.

"“Before hiring Beard, Texas Tech had never appeared in an Elite Eight,” writes John Gasaway. “With Beard, the Red Raiders played in regional finals in both 2018 and 2019, famously coming within mere seconds of a national title in the latter year. Few if any coaches have done more with less in a shorter period of time.”"

The first six coaches on Gasaway’s list, Roy Williams (North Carolina), Jay Wright (Villanova), Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Bill Self (Kansas), John Calipari (Kentucky), and Tony Bennett (Virginia) have all led their programs to at least one national title.  That means that the only coaches on this list that have not cut down the nets on the final night of the season but who rank higher than Beard are Gonzaga’s Mark Few and Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton.

While it’s tough to split hairs with either of those coaches, a case could be made that Beard should at least be ranked higher than Hamilton.  After all, the Seminoles have not been to the Final Four in his 18 seasons in charge and he’s only managed to get to the Elite Eight once.  What’s more, Hamilton has missed the NCAA Tournament ten times while in Tallahassee.

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"“With Duke and North Carolina both sustaining their excellence more or less annually, the ACC has tended to be a graveyard for the league’s other new hires,” Gasaway writes in his blurb about Hamilton. “Tony Bennett achieved escape velocity from that trap, however, and so too has Hamilton. FSU is 29-9 in ACC play over the past two seasons and has also appeared in the last two Sweet 16s.”"

Other coaches of interest on this list include Baylor’s Scott Drew (No. 12), Shaka Smart (No. 15, though not for his hiring by Texas but rather his 2009 hiring by Virginia Commonwealth), Jamie Dixon (No. 22 for his hiring in 2003 by Pittsburgh), and former Kansas State head coach Frank Martin at No. 24 who left Manhattan for South Carolina in 2012.

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Of course, lists like this are subjective and only meant to help us fill our time during the current sports hiatus.  But still, we shouldn’t take for granted that Texas Tech has a head coach on such a list and who will likely be much higher should Gasaway revise his rankings in the future.  Again, thank you so much Memphis.  We will never be able to repay you for the role you played in the rebuilding of Texas Tech basketball.

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