The University of Mississippi has announced it is hiring former Texas and Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard as the next head coach of its men’s basketball team.
Beard will replace Kermit Davis, who was fired in February near the end of his fifth season as the university’s head coach. After making the decision to part ways with Davis, Athletic Director Keith Carter announced there would be a nationwide search for a new coach, which ended with Beard.
“We thoroughly evaluated a number of outstanding candidates, and there is no doubt Coach Beard is one of the top coaches in the nation. After conducting due diligence and speaking to a number of individuals on and off the court, it was evident he is the right person to guide our team to greatness,” Carter said, per a news release on the team’s website.
“He has coached at multiple levels of college basketball and has competed for championships at every school. Simply put, Coach Beard is a winner, and Ole Miss Basketball’s best years are ahead of us under his leadership,” Carter added.
Beard has been a Division I college basketball head coach since 2015 and has made five NCAA Tournament appearances, including a run to the National Championship game with Texas Tech in 2019.
He spent a year and eight games with the Texas Longhorns before being fired following a domestic violence dispute at his home in Austin in December.
“I am honored to be joining the Ole Miss family and excited to get started at this great university,” Beard stated, per the release. “I can’t express how grateful I am to Chancellor Boyce, Keith Carter and the rest of the search committee for their belief in me to lead this program. I am really looking forward to being an active part of the Oxford community.”
Ole Miss will introduce Beard as the program’s new head coach during a press conference at 5 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, according to the team’s release.
