OXFORD -- Chris Beard was in Tad Smith Coliseum for one of the wildest games in the arena’s history.
It was March 23, 2010, and Texas Tech was facing Ole Miss in the NIT quarterfinals, a trip to New York City hanging in the balance.
Andy Kennedy’s Ole Miss team defeated Pat Knight’s Texas Tech club — Beard was an assistant with the Red Raiders — in overtime, 90-87.
It was one of 700 games Ole Miss hosted in the arena, affectionally known as The Tad Pad. Ole Miss moved out of the arena in January 2016. The Rebels haven’t played there since. That will change on Friday night at 8 when Ole Miss entertains Sam Houston State in what Beard calls the “first annual” throwback game.
Kennedy always joked about the arena, pointing out a hole in the roof, the electric issues that occasionally popped up and some of the animals that called the building home.
“I love it,” Beard said. “I’m more of a historical guy. When I think of college basketball, I think of great tradition, great venues. When you walk in the building, there were great games, great moments, great individual performances. So to me, we know we’re playing in a historic, older, classic college basketball arena.
“In terms of the some of the wildlife that might have been in there from time to time, any of us that have coached in great venues (have experienced that).”
Ole Miss moved into what is now called The Sandy and John Black Pavilion in January 2016, a building Beard called “the nicest facility in college basketball.”
“The next step for us, and us being all of us, is to continue to build basketball tradition here, where one day The Pavilion is thought of in the same was as The Tad Pad in terms of the history of the game and all the memories that will be in this building and that have been in The Tad Pad.”
Beard said it’s a core value of his team’s program to respect the past and acknowledge what came before.
Ole Miss will honor former coach Rob Evans on Friday. He and his wife, Carolyn, were guests of the Rebels at Thursday’s practice. Evans spoke to the Ole Miss team Thursday.
“We damn sure respect who came before us,” Beard said. “It’s important to us. This morning was awesome and you could tell our players understand that too with Coach Evans talking about his time here and how he built the program. You could tell our players were locked in. I hope we play well (Friday) night for so many reasons.”
Ole Miss (3-0) will face a Sam Houston State team that has begun the season 1-2, tipping off the year with a 64-57 victory over Pacific before falling to Utah Valley, 79-73 in overtime and Oklahoma State, 85-70. The Bearkats are coming off one of their best seasons in recent history after winning 26 games and falling in the second round of the NIT.
Sam Houston State has been led in scoring by Lamar Wilkerson through their first three games, averaging 14 points per contest. He's joined in double-digit scoring clips by Memphis native Davon Barnes at 13.7 per game. With 19 rebounds for an average of 6.3 per game, Souleymayne Doumbia also leads the team in boards with a team-best four blocks.
In his first year as a collegiate head coach, Chris Mudge oversees the Bearkat program after serving on staff as an assistant and associate coach since 2010. He was hired in April 2023 after former head coach Jason Hooten took the head job at New Mexico State.
