No. 5: Anthony Livingston
Anthony Livingston was the first grad transfer Beard brought to town. Playing his senior season at Tech after playing for Arkansas State where he faced Beard’s Arkansas-Little Rock squad and impressed his future head coach, he helped get the new coach’s tenure off to a steady start.
The 6-foot-8 forward was much like Hamilton in the sense that his jumper was his greatest asset. He shot 39.9% from deep as a Red Raider and hit 55 3-pointers, more than doubling his previous career-high.
But he was more versatile offensively than Hamilton thanks to his athleticism, which was above average for a 230-pounder. He averaged 9.9 points per game and 3.7 rebounds as well.
Unfortunately for Livingston, he won’t be remembered by as many Tech fans as other players on this list because his time in the Scarlet and Black came before the program took hold of the hearts of the fan base. As part of Beard’s first team in Lubbock, Livingston helped lay a foundation for the future but he didn’t get the reward of playing in the NCAA Tournament as Tech went just 18-14 that year and did not play in the postseason.
Livingston did have some monster games during that season. He scored 33 huge points against Rice in Lubbock including two free throws with no time on the clock to give Tech a one-point win. He also added 28 points in a win over Utah State.
But as Big 12 play wore on, it seemed as if Livingston wore down. His scoring average in conference play dropped to eight points per game and he failed to reach double-digits over the final seven regular-season games.
Livingston was the type of mid-major player that used to comprise the majority of the transfer pool. Serviceable enough to be a starter but not skilled enough to be a dominant factor, he was a respectable and hard-working player.
But now, Beard has started to pull in transfers from such major programs as Virginia Tech, St. John’s, Wichita State, and Georgetown. That’s not a knock on Livingston but rather it’s an indication of where this program has been able to climb to since his departure.