In the midst of another disappointing season and with the announcement of Mike Woodson stepping down, who will be the next head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers has been a hot topic in the college basketball world.
St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino has been a name often thrown around in that discussion. Pitino is no stranger to turning programs around as he has St. John’s in a spot to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019 and ranked in the top-10 in his second year with the program.
Pitino appeared on Friday’s episode of the ‘Pardon My Take’ podcast to talk about college hoops and the opening in Bloomington was brought up. When asked if anyone from Indiana had contacted him or anyone close to him he responded straight up saying, “No. No one. I’ve had a lot of contacts with professional teams right now from Europe who are dying to have me back.”
Who does Rick Pitino think should get the Indiana job?
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) February 21, 2025
"I'd immediately hire Chris Beard. I wouldn't even think about another person. He's perfect for that job" 👀pic.twitter.com/Tw5iFuyc3T
He then put himself in the spot of the Indiana AD and gave his piece on what direction the Hoosiers should go in. “I would immediately, not even interview anybody else, and hire one of the premiere coaches in all of college basketball, and that’s Chris Beard” he said. “I wouldn’t even think about another person, he’s perfect for that job.”
He then talked about getting friendly with Beard during the years he was sitting out from coaching. “He was at Texas Tech, and I went out and spoke to him, but I watched two days of practice, and I always judge a coach by his practices. And I have to tell you those are some of the best practices, and meetings with his team, that I’ve ever witnessed. So I am a gigantic fan of Chris Beard.”
Pitino even gave a prediction of where a Beard-led Indiana Hoosiers team would stand, saying, “He would kill it at Indiana. He’d have them in the top five to seven every single year.” Before stepping out of the shoes of Indiana AD Pitino finished off by saying, “I would never hire myself for that job, for Indiana, because I belong at St. John’s."
This is some high praise coming from one of the most respected coaches in college basketball discussing one of the top-tier jobs in the sport. In the exact same way as Pitino, Beard is currently having a very successful second season at Ole Miss and has them on pace to make the tournament for the first time since 2019. Prior to that, he had a short stint at Texas that ended with an assault charge that has since been dropped and was all-around an odd situation.
Beard broke onto the scene in his first year as a Division 1 head coach when he led Arkansas Little-Rock to a 30-5 record and a first round upset of Purdue in March Madness. He then went on to Texas Tech where he had an overall record of 112-55 and brought the Red Raiders to the Final Four in 2019.
Beard has had quite the coaching journey that includes stops at Incarnate Word as a GA, to head coaching stops at Fort Scott Community College and the semi-pro South Carolina Warriors, and much more. Also of note is that outside of his time at Texas Tech, Beard did not spend more than two seasons at his seven other head coaching jobs, so leaving Ole Miss for Indiana should be no problem.
There's no question that a change will be happening in Indiana, and Rick Pitino made his belief known that Chris Beard is the right man to bring life back into that program.