Texas Tech Basketball: 9 candidates to replace Chris Beard as head coach
By Joey Loose
Why Texas Tech basketball could hire Kyle Keller
As previously mentioned, there’s a healthy slew of mid-major head coaches in the state of Texas that are ready for the next step. For some, the step up to Texas Tech would be pretty intense, but a coach like Keller has proven that he’s ready for the next level, with experience that some of these coaches sorely lack.
A native of Dallas, Keller has spent nearly two decades as a power conference assistant, with that experience mostly coming in the Big 12 at Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Texas A&M. He’s spent the last five seasons at Stephen F. Austin, continuing to win in the Southland Conference with the program that Brad Underwood built. Having taken these Lumberjacks to an NCAA Tournament, his shining moment came in 2019 when his team upset #1 Duke in overtime on the road.
Keller has plenty of experience in the Big 12 and has proven capable of winning big games, even with a small program like Stephen F. Austin. He’s one of the more capable of the mid-major candidates, even if many of his victories have been vacated due to an administrative error and NCAA violation. Keller has the experience on the biggest stage and has surely shown that he’d be capable of handling the major upgrade in conference.