Big 12 Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose | Jun 17, 2020

KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 24: (L-R) Head coach Bill Self of the Kansas Jayhawks greets head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels prior to coaching against each other during the third round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Sprint Center on March 24, 2013 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – APRIL 04: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by Maxx Wolfson/Getty Images) /

4. Big 12 Basketball coach rankings – Chris Beard (Texas Tech, 2016-2020)

Ten years ago, Beard was Pat Knight’s associate head coach at Texas Tech and was a relative unknown in the college basketball world. He spent the early part of his career building success in short stints at smaller schools. In 2016, he led Little Rock to 30 wins and a wild first-round upset over 5-seed Purdue, leading him to get the job at UNLV. Mere weeks later, he accepted the chance to return to Texas Tech, a decision that nobody in Lubbock is regretting.

Prior to his arrival, Texas Tech was struggling, but Beard completely reformed this program almost instantly. In just his second season, the Red Raiders made their first Elite Eight in program history, but this was just the beginning. The 2019 team won 31 games, captured the Big 12 regular-season crown, and made it all the way to the national championship game, an unimaginable leap forward for the program.

Beard has a way of greatly elevating a program after his arrival, and this applied in a big way in the Big 12 as well. Even though he’s only four years deep as a Big 12 coach, he’s already had a tremendous impact that will be felt for a long time for these Red Raiders. Regardless of how long Beard stays with the program, Texas Tech and this entire conference are in a better position as long as he remains.

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