2/15/2023 basketball Edit

McCready: News out of Austin makes things interesting for Ole Miss

Former Texas Longhorns head coach Chris Beard reacts during the second half against the Creighton Bluejays at Moody Center in a game earlier this season. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

Neal McCready • RebelGrove

Publisher

Chris Beard is no longer facing criminal charges. The former Texas basketball coach had his domestic violence charge dropped on Wednesday, Travis County district attorney Jose Garza announced.

“After a careful and thorough review of the evidence, recent public statements, and considering (Beard’s fiancee) Ms. (Randi) Trew’s wishes, our office has determined that the felony offense cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” Garza said in a statement.

And with that, Beard, who took Texas Tech to the Elite 8 and the national championship game in consecutive seasons, became hirable. It’s not complicated, really. Beard is hirable. How palatable would his hiring be? Well, that’s where things get complicated.

Beard was arrested on Dec. 12 and charged with third-degree felony assault on a family/household member (Trew) around 5 a.m. CT that day. She later retracted her accusations, saying Beard was just using “self-defense” in a “physical struggle” between the couple.

Myron Medcalf and Jeff Borzello of ESPN reported at the time that Austin police responded to a “disturbance hotshot” call shortly after midnight. Disturbance hotshot incidents are “incidents in progress that are an immediate threat to life and/or public safety.” Beard’s felony charge included “impeding breath circulation.”

Beard was suspended indefinitely and then fired with cause on Jan. 5.

So now the question, at least here in Oxford, is: Can Ole Miss hire Beard? It’s a two-fold question, of course. Does Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter believe Beard could overcome the damage to his reputation enough to win in the Southeastern Conference? And, if Carter were to decide Beard was his man, could he land him over other prospective suitors?

Ole Miss dropped to 10-16 overall and 2-11 Wednesday night with a 79-64 loss at Florida. Under fifth-year coach Kermit Davis, the Rebels are now 6-30 in SEC games in the past two seasons, a mark that includes an SEC Tournament loss to Missouri last March in Tampa, Fla. No one has directly addressed Davis’ future at Ole Miss, but the writing certainly appears to be on the wall.

Beard is widely considered one of the top 10 coaches in college basketball. He’s been a head coach since 2012-13, when he directed McMurry to a 19-10 record and a spot in the NCCAA final. He was 47-15 in two seasons at Angelo State, including a third-round appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

He went 30-5 in one season at Little Rock, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, before taking over at Texas Tech. In five seasons in Lubbock, he was 112-55 overall and 49-40 in the Big 12, advancing to three NCAA Tournaments (the Red Raiders would’ve made the 2020 NCAA Tournament had it not been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Beard went 22-8 in his first season at Texas, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He was 7-1 with the Longhorns this season before his arrest and subsequent firing.

He’s widely considered an elite recruiter who also knows how to maneuver the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Ole Miss is at the bottom of the proverbial ladder. There’s nowhere to fall. The arena is dead, the atmosphere is akin to a funeral at home games. It really can’t get worse. Beard’s won everywhere he’s ever been. It’s not a stretch to believe he’d have success at Ole Miss. Two college basketball coaching sources connected to Beard told RebelGrove.com Beard would be very interested in the Ole Miss job should it come open.

Yes, the school would get mauled in the public sphere if it hired Beard. Pat Forde would jump on his high horse at Sports Illustrated. Dan Wolken would be appalled and his words in USA Today would reflect that outrage. Christine Brennan would eviscerate Ole Miss in the same space, vilifying Carter and everyone associated with the program. Talking heads would have a field day. It would be a 48- to 72-hour beating. It would be ugly. They’d cite police reports and accuse Ole Miss of caring about nothing but winning. The school would have to just take it.

Then it would go away, especially if Ole Miss moved quickly. If Carter is willing to make the move, he should hire Beard on the Tuesday after the SEC Tournament in Nashville. For you know what starts on that Thursday, right? The same reporters start tweeting “This is March!” the moment some kid for Creighton hits a buzzer-beater in the first round. “We sleep in May,” they’ll tweet when some kid from Northwestern hits a corner-3 to cement a first-round bracket-buster or when some kid from North Texas goes for 37 points to knock out Arkansas or Auburn. Attention spans are short, especially with 67 games played in three weeks leading up to The Masters and the start of the Major League Baseball season.

Carter has to do his due diligence, of course. He has to believe what happened that night/early morning in Austin was a one-off and that it would never happen again. The contract must reflect that as well. Yes, it would be admitting that winning trumps all. But then again, hasn’t that already been admitted? Ole Miss hired a somewhat embattled Lane Kiffin from FAU and it’s worked out swimmingly so far. Ole Miss was going to fire Mike Bianco last Memorial Day before the Rebels got the final bid in the NCAA Tournament and began their amazing ride to a national championship. We can give morality, character and ethics lip service all we’d like, but the evidence points toward it all being about winning and all about winning.

And Beard wins. He always wins. And now, he’s available and hirable. Maybe he’s not who Carter wants. Maybe he’d prefer rolling the dice on former LSU coach Will Wade, who appears poised to defeat the NCAA/IARP. Maybe he’d rather hire FAU’s Dusty May or College of Charleston’s Pat Kelsey. Maybe there’s another candidate or two who is quietly interested in the job when and if it comes open in three weeks. A year ago, when there were rumblings that Carter might make a move regarding Davis, a source told RebelGrove.com Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann would be interested. The 51-year-old Kentucky native has family in Mississippi and would likely be interested next month as well.

Just know this: Wednesday’s news out of Austin changed the story arc around Ole Miss basketball. Prior to Wednesday, as long as charges lingered, Beard wasn’t hirable. Now he is. Now, any decision Carter makes is impacted by Beard’s availability.

It’s been a bit of a boring basketball season in Oxford since the Rebels lost to North Alabama in December. After Wednesday’s announcement from the Travis County District Attorney’s office, the next few weeks are anything but boring.