UPDATE (3/13/23): According to a report from ESPN on Monday morning, Ole Miss Basketball is now “closing in” on an agreement to make Chris Beard the Rebels’ next head coach. Tennessee defeated Ole Miss in the second round of the SEC Tournament this past weekend in Nashville.
Former Texas basketball head coach Chris Beard looks to be the new top candidate for the head coaching vacancy at Ole Miss, according to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello on Wednesday.
The report states that the two sides, Beard and Ole Miss, have been in contact as Ole Miss goes through the “process of doing their due diligence” on the former Texas head coach.
Beard’s 2022-2023 season was derailed by controversy after just eight games. What began as a season in which he reached the No. 2 ranking in the AP polls with Texas, Beard’s tenure at Texas came crashing down in mid-December after he was arrested for assault on a family member in a choking situation. Beard’s fiancee told police that she was hit, bit, and choked during an argument between the two.
Beard’s fiancee, Randi Trew, disputed her original statement to the police eleven days after the arrest occurred.
On Feb. 15, 2023, the charges on Beard were dropped.
Now, according to the report from ESPN on Wednesday, it looks as though Beard could become the next head coach of Ole Miss basketball.
More from RTI: How Tennessee’s SEC Tournament Top-Half Path is the Favorable Route
As the head coach of Texas Tech from 2016 to 2021, Beard achieved a record of 112-55 in 167 games and took the Red Raiders as high as No. 6 in the AP poll. After the 2021 season, though, Beard switched sides in the Big 12 to join up with his Alma Mater (1995), the University of Texas.
In his first season at Texas, Beard went 22-12 and reached the NCAA Tournament as a six-seed. The Longhorns lost in the second round to three-seed Purdue.
Beard was 7-1 and had his team as the No. 2 ranking in the country when he was fired from Texas following the arrest.
On Feb. 24, 2023, Ole Miss and head coach Kermit Davis “mutually agreed to part ways” after five seasons in Oxford. Davis collected a record of 74-79 during his time with the Rebels.
If Beard is hired by Ole Miss, Athletics Director Keith Carter will have assembled quite the pair between him and head football coach Lane Kiffin.
As the No. 13 seed in the SEC Tournament, Ole Miss basketball is set for action on Wednesday night in the first round of the conference tournament in Nashville. The Rebels will take on No. 12-seed South Carolina, with the winner advancing to take on Rick Barnes and the No. 5-seed Tennessee Volunteers on Thursday afternoon in Bridgestone Arena.
Rebels assistant coach Win Case has served as the Ole Miss head coach since Davis was fired last month.
Tennessee is 2-0 (3-0 after the tournament win) against both Texas and Ole Miss during the 2022-2023 basketball season.
