After a second-straight season in which his Texas Tech basketball team has defied expectations, head coach Chris Beard is receiving plenty of national attention. Already named the Big 12 Coach of the Year, the third-year Red Raider head coach is now one of four finalists for the Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s Coach of the Year Award.
Beard is joined by 2018 honoree Tony Bennett of Virginia, Kelvin Sampson of Houston and Rick Barnes of Tennessee. And while all four are fantastic coaches, Beard unquestionably has the strongest case of the four candidates.
After losing six of his top eight scorers from last season’s Elite 8 team, Beard had to completely re-tool his team this offseason.