Where Texas basketball’s Chris Beard ranked among CBB’s top coaches
In the midst of what is sure to be a busy offseason for the Texas basketball program and head coach Chris Beard, we’re seeing a bit of a quiet portion of the spring for this staff. Texas is coming off a pretty successful first season at the helm for Beard and his staff, where the program notched the first NCAA Tournament win in almost a decade.
The Longhorns were riding a four-game NCAA Tournament losing streak prior to knocking off the 11-seed Virginia Tech Hokies in the Round of 64 a couple of months ago. But Texas’ NCAA Tournament run would end in the Round of 32 after a tough loss to the three-seed Purdue Boilermakers.
Moreover, all eyes will be on how Beard can move this team forward and elevate its postseason success next season. The hype is building around Beard and the Longhorns for next season, much like it was last offseason.
And you can see some of the respect that various media outlets around the college hoops landscape have for Beard as the hype builds this offseason. That was evident in a list from 247Sports this week that ranked out the top 25 head coaches in college basketball as of 2022, from Isaac Trotter.
Beard rang in at No. 15 on this list of 247Sports’ top 25 head coaches. That placed him ahead of the likes of UCLA’s Mick Cronin, Illinois’ Brad Underwood, Purdue’s Matt Painter, Tennessee’s Rick Barnes, and Marquette’s Shaka Smart. This list has every former Texas head coach that is still in the same role with another D1 program ranked behind Beard.
Texas basketball’s Chris Beard ranked among the top head coaches in college hoops
This ranking seems to hold a lot of value in the ability to establish a winning culture in the postseason at various programs. You can see that in how 247Sports described Beard in this ranking.
"From guiding Arkansas Little Rock to an upset win over Purdue in the 2016 NCAA Tournament to leading Texas Tech to the National Championship Game in 2019, Beard has already put together an awesome resume. Beard is in the process of building a major contender in Texas. The Longhorns have key veterans returning in Timmy Allen and Marcus Carr combined with jaw-dropping freshmen Dillon Mitchell and Arterio Morris. Beard has built an NCAA Tournament team in each of the last five seasons. It’s only a matter of time until Beard has a Final Four contender at Texas."
It is important to note how this ranking mentions that “Beard is in the process of building a major contender” with the Longhorns program. It’s clear that Trotter feels that the Longhorns have some real potential under Beard.
In order for the Longhorns to reach that next level under Beard next season, they’ll need to address a few roster needs. Texas could really use an upgrade to the frontcourt with a lengthy center that can win the battle on the boards and protect the rim.
It would also obviously help to dramatically upgrade the starting unit if Texas could land a commitment out of the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason from an instant impact player such as the former Iowa State Cyclones stud freshman guard Tyrese Hunter.
Beard make a big splash in the transfer portal last offseason and he could turn to that formula again to help build out his roster ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.
Next. 3 spring additions ready to shine for Texas hoops. dark
Texas finished up last season with a record of 22-12 (10-8 Big 12) in a pretty promising first year under Beard’s direction. Beard and the Longhorns already have the hype building to be a top 20 contender next season that could potentially earn a low single-digit seed in the NCAA Tournament.