2016 Getty Images
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 08: Chris Beard speaks after being introduced as UNLV's new head basketball coach during a news conference at the Mendenhall Center at UNLV on April 8, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
People at Texas Tech knew Chris Beard could coach long before he fashioned Little Rock's first-round upset of Purdue in this year's NCAA tournament.
Just as importantly, Beard jumped at the chance to return to Lubbock where he had spent a decade as an assistant from 2001 to '11 to become men's basketball coach.