Texas Tech Basketball: 9 candidates to replace Chris Beard as head coach
By Joey Loose
Why Texas Tech basketball could hire Paul Mills
Another candidate comes forward and it’s yet another Texan mid-major coach who’s done fantastic work in recent years. Some of these candidates lack extensive experience as a head coach, but is that really a big deal? Texas Tech wouldn’t do wrong with any of these hot mid-major names, but why does Mills stand out?
A former high school coach, Mills got his big coaching break with a 14-year stint on Scott Drew’s staff at Baylor. With plenty of experience in the Big 12, and a direct role in rebuilding that Baylor program from scratch, Mills took the Oral Roberts job in 2017 and the results have been clear and profound. This past season, he led the Golden Eagles to a wildly unexpected run to the Sweet Sixteen as a 15-seed, making them one of the biggest Cinderella stories in recent years.
One negative for Mills is that Oral Roberts hasn’t exactly been a contender in the Summit League; can a great two weeks of postseason play justify his hiring by a Big 12 school? Mills will no doubt be on the shortlists of several schools in the near future, but does he have more to prove with the Golden Eagles? That extensive Big 12 experience does play a role, but is it enough?