Texas Basketball Recruiting Notes: Keep Austin Beard

[Machinator 32099]

Barring the unexpected, Chris Beard will be the new head coach at Texas. He has a lot of work to do.

 

[Machinator 32099]

Taking suggestions for titles as always.

[Machinator 32099]

(Gerry Hamilton) IT Recruiting Matters: Chris Beard's impact at Texas

Spoiler

The hiring of Chris Beard couldn’t have come at a better time for Texas basketball.

With Beard having coached Texas Tech to the National Championship game in 2019, and Baylor and Houston advancing to the Final Four this season, there is more pressure than ever on the Texas athletic department to make a hire at Texas that can swing the momentum away from other programs in the state.

While Beard will have to construct a roster for the 2021-22 season that is capable of competing in the Big 12, it’s going to be the first full recruiting class that the new staff will have to knock out of the park.

In the Shaka Smart era, the Longhorns inked just one prospect (Andrew Jones) out of the D/FW area. Signing just one prospect out of 23 total signees under Smart out of the most talent rich part of Texas in basketball has to change.

Here is a look at the 2022 in-state prospects Beard offered while at Texas Tech:

PG Bryce Griggs, Fort Bend Hightower
6-2, 180
Composite ranking: 23
Offers of note: Baylor, Houston, Kansas, LSU, Memphis, Texas
AAU shoe affiliation: Adidas
Notable: Works with T.J. Ford multiple times per week.

PG Arterio Morris, Dallas Kimball
6-3, 190
Composite ranking: 66
Offers of note: Memphis, Arkansas, Kansas, Oregon, Texas, UCLA
AAU shoe affiliation: Under Armour
Notable: Originally from the Memphis area. Has already committed and decommitted from Memphis.

CG Cason Wallace, Richardson High
6-3, 175
Composite ranking: 18
Offers of note: Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Texas
AAU shoe affiliation: Nike
Notable: Brother plays at UTSA

CG Anthony Black, Coppell
6-6, 185
Composite ranking: 62
Offers of note: Baylor, Illinois, Oklahoma State, Texas
AAU shoe affiliation: Nike
Notable: Mom played soccer at Texas and Baylor. Dad played basketball at Baylor.

SG Keyonte George, iSchool Academy
6-4, 185
Composite ranking: 10
Offers of note: Arizona, Baylor, Kansas, Texas
AAU shoe affiliation: Nike or Adidas
Notable: Texas was at the top of the list prior to Smart "leaving" for Marquette.

SG Rylan Griffen, Richardson High
6-5, 180
Composite ranking: 49
Offers of note: Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Kansas, Texas
AAU shoe affiliation: Nike

SG Brendan Hausen, Amarillo High
6-4, 180
Composite ranking: 193
Offers of note: Houston, Oklahoma
AAU shoe affiliation: Adidas

SF Jordan Walsh, Waxahachie Faith Academy
6-7, 190
Composite ranking: 58
Offers of note: Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Texas
AAU shoe affiliation: Nike

PF Colin Smith, Dallas St. Mark’s
6-8, 200
Composite ranking: 116
Offers of note: Arkansas, Baylor, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA
AAU shoe affiliation: Adidas
Notable: Mom attended Texas. Family connections to Texas. Sister plays volleyball at Stanford.

C Lee Dort, Greenhill School
6-9, 240
Composite ranking: 59
Offers of note: Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Kansas, Memphis, Texas, Vanderbilt
AAU shoe affiliation: Nike

 

[Tree Fidy 1175]

3 minutes ago, Machinator said:

(Gerry Hamilton) IT Recruiting Matters: Chris Beard's impact at Texas

  Hide contents

The hiring of Chris Beard couldn’t have come at a better time for Texas basketball.

With Beard having coached Texas Tech to the National Championship game in 2019, and Baylor and Houston advancing to the Final Four this season, there is more pressure than ever on the Texas athletic department to make a hire at Texas that can swing the momentum away from other programs in the state.

While Beard will have to construct a roster for the 2021-22 season that is capable of competing in the Big 12, it’s going to be the first full recruiting class that the new staff will have to knock out of the park.

In the Shaka Smart era, the Longhorns inked just one prospect (Andrew Jones) out of the D/FW area. Signing just one prospect out of 23 total signees under Smart out of the most talent rich part of Texas in basketball has to change.

Here is a look at the 2022 in-state prospects Beard offered while at Texas Tech:

PG Bryce Griggs, Fort Bend Hightower
6-2, 180
Composite ranking: 23
Offers of note: Baylor, Houston, Kansas, LSU, Memphis, Texas
AAU shoe affiliation: Adidas
Notable: Works with T.J. Ford multiple times per week.

PG Arterio Morris, Dallas Kimball
6-3, 190
Composite ranking: 66
Offers of note: Memphis, Arkansas, Kansas, Oregon, Texas, UCLA
AAU shoe affiliation: Under Armour
Notable: Originally from the Memphis area. Has already committed and decommitted from Memphis.

CG Cason Wallace, Richardson High
6-3, 175
Composite ranking: 18
Offers of note: Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Texas
AAU shoe affiliation: Nike
Notable: Brother plays at UTSA

CG Anthony Black, Coppell
6-6, 185
Composite ranking: 62
Offers of note: Baylor, Illinois, Oklahoma State, Texas
AAU shoe affiliation: Nike
Notable: Mom played soccer at Texas and Baylor. Dad played basketball at Baylor.

SG Keyonte George, iSchool Academy
6-4, 185
Composite ranking: 10
Offers of note: Arizona, Baylor, Kansas, Texas
AAU shoe affiliation: Nike or Adidas
Notable: Texas was at the top of the list prior to Smart "leaving" for Marquette.

SG Rylan Griffen, Richardson High
6-5, 180
Composite ranking: 49
Offers of note: Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Kansas, Texas
AAU shoe affiliation: Nike

SG Brendan Hausen, Amarillo High
6-4, 180
Composite ranking: 193
Offers of note: Houston, Oklahoma
AAU shoe affiliation: Adidas

SF Jordan Walsh, Waxahachie Faith Academy
6-7, 190
Composite ranking: 58
Offers of note: Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Texas
AAU shoe affiliation: Nike

PF Colin Smith, Dallas St. Mark’s
6-8, 200
Composite ranking: 116
Offers of note: Arkansas, Baylor, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA
AAU shoe affiliation: Adidas
Notable: Mom attended Texas. Family connections to Texas. Sister plays volleyball at Stanford.

C Lee Dort, Greenhill School
6-9, 240
Composite ranking: 59
Offers of note: Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Kansas, Memphis, Texas, Vanderbilt
AAU shoe affiliation: Nike

 

The fact that they list the AAU shoe affiliation is...well, admitting reality unfortunately.

[Machinator 32099]

 

[Machinator 32099]

 

[SquishMitten 10403]

27 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Taking suggestions for titles as always.

Texas Basketball Recruiting Notes: All Gas, No Shaves

Cuz of the Beard...get it?

[Fud 9552]

Keyonte George and Anthony Black (I had no idea who they were until now)

 

[Poe It Up 126]

Back to the drawing beard. 

[texifornia 56868]

57 minutes ago, Fud said:

Keyonte George and Anthony Black (I had no idea who they were until now)

 

a) lol now I remember, George is the one that goes to the school that sounds completely made up

b) til they have the pros as a CB option

https://247sports.com/player/keyonte-george-46059226/

[MoJames 8244]

Beard Run

[Houston20 224]

For those that follow AAU ball more closely, what's the deal with the shoe affiliation? Or is that something irrelevant IT added just for color?

[texifornia 56868]

8 minutes ago, Houston20 said:

For those that follow AAU ball more closely, what's the deal with the shoe affiliation? Or is that something irrelevant IT added just for color?

AAU teams have a grimy tendency to direct kids to schools sponsored by the same shoe company for kickbacks.

[Houston20 224]

1 minute ago, texifornia said:

AAU teams have a grimy tendency to direct kids to schools sponsored by the same shoe company for kickbacks.

Ah, gotcha thanks.

[Machinator 32099]

IT

Spoiler

Tamar Bates called a few minutes ago. On Chris Beard to Texas.

"I'll definitely listen to what Coach Beard has to say." Bates said, noting there has not been a phone call yet.

Schools reaching out to IMG Academy to let the staff know they have an interest in Bates ... Illinois, Washington, Tennessee, Marquette, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Kentucky, Duke and Northwestern.

From Justin Wells on David Joplin:
One of UT’s 2021 signees, four-star forward David Joplin was excited as soon as he heard the news.

“Chris Beard! I’m excited. I want to talk to him with my family,” said Joplin.

The 6-foot-7, 215-pounder from Brookfield, WI signed with Texas last November. He chose the Horns over Butler, Georgetown, and Iowa State.

Joplin endeared himself to Texas fans after his quotes after committing to the Horns, including,” I can shoot that m***** f*****.”

 

[UDontKnow 10441]

- Fear the Beard!

- Real Ballas Play for Beard!

[utdlc 104]

Harris 247 

Spoiler

Athletic Director Chris Del Conte and the Texas administration made a big splash on Thursday morning in hiring Chris Beard as their next head basketball coach, two sources confirmed to Horns247's Chip Brown.

In five seasons at Texas Tech, Chris Beard revitalized a previously mediocre basketball program into one of the best in the country after an Elite Eight appearance in 2018 and an appearance in the National Championship in 2019 where the Red Raiders fell to Virginia in overtime.

Beard inherits a crumbling roster at Texas as multiple starters are expected to move on to professional opportunities while at least one 2021 signee will not end up in Austin.

So what happens next for Beard and the Texas basketball program this spring? Let's dive into it.

With National Signing Day fast approaching on April 15, I expect Beard to make a move for Texas Tech's lone 2021 signee, four-star small forward Jaylon Tyson from Plano (Texas) John Paul II. After talking with sources this afternoon, I expect Tyson to request a release from his National Letter of Intent soon with Texas being the early overwhelming favorite.

Three signees remain in the picture for Texas, and after talking to sources this afternoon, I am cautiously optimistic that David Joplin and Keeyan Itejere will stick through their signatures. For Emarion Ellis, there are still conversations going on behind-the-scenes on what his options are as they have expanded in the days since Shaka Smart's departure. For Tamar Bates, I can confidently say that he will not end up in Austin.

Soon after news broke of Beard's departure from Lubbock, junior shooting guard Kyler Edwards announced his intentions to leave the program. No indications have been given of Edwards' next move. Other Red Raiders that I am watching closely for a potential transfer are freshman shooting guard Micah Peavy and freshman small forward Chibuzo Agbo. With Texas needing to fill multiple spots via the transfer portal, I expect Beard and Texas to go all-out after any Red Raider that decides to transfer.

In 2022 recruiting, with a loaded in-state crop on the horizon, Beard will be able to pair the relationships he's already developed with recruits with the national brand appeal of Texas. Most notably, Texas soars into the lead for Coppell (Texas) four-star combo guard Anthony Black, who is the step brother of the previously mentioned Micah Peavy. I have entered a Crystal Ball Prediction in favor of the Longhorns with a confidence score of 7.

Another big target to watch moving forward will be Lewisville (Texas) iSchool five-star shooting guard Keyonte George. If George decides not to take professional opportunities out of high school, I expect Texas to be the school to beat based on his relationships with both Beard and Black.

In 2023 and 2024, Beard has done a solid job positioning himself with some of the top recruits in the state as I expect his Texas staff to recruit the Lone Star State much harder than Shaka Smart did in his six seasons. While recruiting out-of-state will also be imperative to a national brand program such as Texas, if he can lock down who he wants within state lines, the recruiting potential will be sky-high in Austin.

 

[Bevo 13569]

4 hours ago, Machinator said:

Taking suggestions for titles as always.

The bearded clams.

Beard brains.

Beard City.

[Machinator 32099]

 

[Machinator 32099]

 

[Bevo14 8303]

errbody

[Degenerate Gardner 4085]

8 hours ago, Machinator said:

Taking suggestions for titles as always.

I can't be the only read who read that as titties. 

[Ghost of Shag 2608]

8 hours ago, Machinator said:

Taking suggestions for titles as always.

2021: Free hemorrhoid bonding

Edited April 2, 2021 by Ghost of Shag

[Hornlover 8829]

8 hours ago, Houston20 said:

For those that follow AAU ball more closely, what's the deal with the shoe affiliation? Or is that something irrelevant IT added just for color?

The shoe companies sponsor AAU teams, leagues, tourneys, etc.  They pay the AAU coaches lots of money. They do this as a means of selling their brands to the players.

Then, the shoe companies start offering money to have the teams direct players to the schools of their choosing (see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017–18_NCAA_Division_I_men's_basketball_corruption_scandal). Adidas wanted Zion to go to KU. Nike wanted Zion at Duke. Nike won that battle, and Zion's uncle/stepdad/trainer/AAU corch/etc. got the money (see https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29158590/zion-williamson-asked-admit-parents-received-money-gifts-duke-nike-adidas). Nike got their logo shown everytime he dunked the ball, but also had his shoe blowout repeated on Sportscenter ad nauseum. 

Then, when Zion became a superstar and went pro, he signs a shoe contract with Nike, and Nike's investment pays off. 

So, if you want to sign the players on a Nike sponsored AAU team - whose coach gets paid by Nike - it really helps if you're a Nike school. Moreso for UNC, Duke, or Mich St than Texas, but it's better than Under Armor. 

[BurntOrangeBlooded15 1566]

I got told tonight by a kid that played again Black this season (work at a HS) that he’s comin with Beard here. 

[Nope 3114]

Keep Austin Beard

[MuellerHorn 4228]

47 minutes ago, Nope said:

Keep Austin Beard

This one

[closetojumping 62565]

Texas Basketball Recruiting Notes - Hirsute Hoops Hysteria

[westexhorn 2013]

1 minute ago, closetojumping said:

Texas Basketball Recruiting Notes - Hirsute Hoops Hysteria

so per one of your recent updates, are you gonna be spending time in the boards or did you pull off the biggest SPAC in wall street?

[Machinator 32099]

 

[Ricky's one-hitter 9084]

This is amazing. Via @Longhornfrenzy

Spoiler

Tech 247 mod is butthurt

Chris Beard: Following in Billy Clyde Gillispie's Footsteps41

JoeYeager

Chris Beard and Billy Clyde Gillispie did not get along. In 2011, Beard was an assistant coach for Gillispie at Texas Tech. During one interchange between Beard and Gillispie, the two very nearly came to blows and had to be separated by athletic director Kirby Hocutt. Gillispie went on to coach the Red Raiders during the 2011-12 season. Beard left Lubbock to coach in the ABA for a season.

Gillispie was fired during that season. His team was bad enough. But far worse was Gillispie’s behavior. His maltreatment of players, assistant coaches and staff was the stuff of legend. Gillispie was a sadistic abuser. He forced his players to practice for so long that one of them, Kader Tapsoba, developed stress fractures in his legs, and despite the injuries, was required to run bleachers.

Gillispie was also a megalomaniac. He came, quite literally from dirt. The son of a poor cattle truck driver in Abilene and then Graford, Texas, Gillispie rose through the coaching ranks to become the head coach at Kentucky, arguably the most prestigious coaching position in basketball, college or pro.

The meteoric ascendence was apparently too much for him to handle. For example, soon after being hired by Kentucky he picked a fight with a television corporation that covered the Wildcats. In essence, he refused to conduct interviews, which were considered entirely de rigeur, with that corporation. Gillispie and the TV outlet butted heads until he decided to cut a deal. If the corporation agreed to purchase a massive quantity of expensive suits of Gillispie’s choice, Gillispie would participate in interviews. The corporation agreed and spent many thousands of dollars on Gillispie’s wardrobe. When Gillispie was fired from Kentucky, the movers responsible for cleaning out Gillispie’s palace reported that his closets were filled with unworn suits.

Clearly, something snapped in Gillispie’s mind while he was at Kentucky. It is easy to surmise that, having worked his way from nothing to the pinnacle of the game of basketball, Gillispie deified himself. He lost touch with reality and viewed himself as a maker of his own laws rather than as a mere human being subject to the laws of society. Ultimately, this irrationality proved Gillispie’s downfall. After having led Texas A&M to the Sweet Sixteen in 2007, Gillispie’s career moved into retrograde at Kentucky and then Texas Tech. During his lone year at Tech, he checked himself into the Mayo Clinic for physical and mental health problems and resigned. His next coaching stop was at Ranger College, and he’s now the head coach at Tarleton. A far cry from Kentucky.

The past of Chris Beard, formerly head coach at Texas Tech and now at Texas, is not quite so checkered. Not yet, anyway. There have been no allegations of abusive behavior, and he has never been fired for any sort of wrongdoing. However, in light of Beard’s unutterably callous resignation from Texas Tech to take the head coaching position at arch-rival Texas, there are signs that Beard may be more like Gillispie than is supposed. And he may ultimately suffer a similar fate.

Beard’s early life is obscure. It’s a subject he has never discussed in any detail publicly. We know he was born in Marietta, Georgia, but spent most of his youth in The Woodlands and Irving, Texas.

Beard’s background may not have been as hardscrabble as Gillispie’s, but it is clear that he didn’t come from privilege. Beard has said on more than one occasion that “guys like me get only one chance.” He was implying that, unlike the golden boys of the profession, he didn’t have a network of high-placed backers to help him in the case of setbacks.

Beard was fond of referring to himself and his team as “street dogs,” in contrast to pampered and precious “pet shop dogs.” Again, he portrayed himself as a denizen of the lower ranks.

Beard also recounted how, as a young boy, he saved his nickels and dimes so he could attend a basketball camp at Texas Tech conducted by former Red Raider coach Gerald Myers. Such an action does not indicate that Beard came from wealth.

So, Beard presumably comes from a socioeconomic background not all that different from Gillispie, and he arguably climbed to even greater heights. Beard has yet to land a coaching position as prestigious as the Kentucky posting, but unlike Gillispie, Beard coached in the national title game, coming up one defensive stop short of winning a natty for Texas Tech.

Did this vertiginous ascent from obscurity to fame affect Beard psychologically as it seems to have affected Gillispie? There is reason to believe so.

Soon after the 2019 tournament run, Texas Tech held a party in United Supermarkets Arena to celebrate the stupendous season. ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla was master of ceremonies. Fraschilla related an interesting anecdote about Beard. He said that, soon after the title game, he was at a gala event for coaches in which Beard was in attendance. All of the luminaries were in some sort of buffet line. Beard had his food but demanded extra butter. The server replied that there was a limit on butter, no exceptions. According to Fraschilla, Beard replied: “Don’t you know who I am? I just led Texas Tech to the national championship game, and I can’t get extra butter?” The server responded, “And I’m the butter guy and you still get only one pad!”

Those in attendance tittered nervously. This story didn’t gibe with their image of Beard as the common man people’s coach. On the contrary, it reeked of extreme arrogance and egocentrism. This was not the Chris Beard they thought they knew.

Since that marvelous season, Beard really hasn’t been quite the same. He received a lavish contract reserved for only the royalty of the coaching profession. With generous subventions from Dustin Womble and many others, Beard oversaw the creation of an opulent new practice facility that outstrips any other in the college game. And “The Womble” was bedizened with a mammoth mural of Chris Beard himself. Whatever the Emperor of West Texas wanted, the Emperor of West Texas got.

During the past season, Beard repeatedly made the bizarre claim that, if the Red Raiders made the NCAA tournament, it would be Texas Tech’s fourth straight tourney appearance. But that clearly was not the case. The previous NCAA tournament had been cancelled, and had it not been cancelled, there was absolutely no certainty that Tech would have received an at-large berth. The general consensus was that the Red Raiders were squarely on the bubble. Here was a case of an Emperor trying to will history into existence. It was a textbook case of megalomania.

But the massive contract, the construction of the Womble Palace and the prerogative to reinvent Texas Tech basketball history as he saw fit, were not enough. A little more than a week after Texas coach Shaka Smart decamped to Marquette, Beard did the same to Texas.

Beard had been at Texas Tech, in one capacity or another, for 16 years. He improbably led the Red Raiders to an Elite Eight and then the national title game. Texas Tech, Lubbock and all of West Texas fell in love with Beard. Some people felt so strongly about Beard that they donated millions of dollars to the construction of The Womble with the understanding that this building would be a physical covenant between Texas Tech and Beard. Like a wedding band, this facility would bind Beard and Texas Tech together for the long haul. And Beard understood this subtext as well as anybody.

Nevertheless, when the coaching opportunity arose at Texas, the ultimate enemy of Texas Tech, Beard took a roto-tiller to the roots he had established in West Texas. He forsook and severed every single of the multifarious personal relations he had established in his time at Texas Tech. He abandoned the former players he recruited to become Red Raiders. And he pulled out an ice pick and stabbed in the back the hundreds of thousands of fans who adored him and supported him unconditionally.

It was an act of shocking disregard for the feelings of others. It was not only cruel, it was utterly thoughtless. It was as if all of the people who poured their heart and soul (and money) into Beard and his basketball program, meant absolutely nothing to him.

There is a psychological term for those who view other human beings as mere tools for their own gratification and aggrandizement. The term is sociopath. Whether or not Beard fits the clinical definition of a sociopath, I cannot say. But what I can say with complete certainty is that his behavior in accepting the Texas job was sociopathic.

And this brings us back to Billy Clyde Gillispie. Gillispie, presumably because he could not effectively process his own dirt-to-diamonds story, developed a megalomania in conjunction with his preexisting sadism, that led to his own downfall and nearly his self-destruction.

Chris Beard is manifesting a similar pattern. After the pinnacle of nearly winning the national championship, the quality of his next two basketball teams diminished dramatically. Two years ago, the Red Raiders finished 18-13 and may not have made the NCAA tournament had it not been cancelled. Last season, Tech finished 18-11 and was bounced by Arkansas from the Big Dance in the second round. Over the course of those two seasons, the Red Raiders recorded a 18-17 mark in Big XII play. Not bad, but hardly the stuff of coaching genius.

It is entirely possible that Beard’s mental condition has reduced his functioning as a coach and as a person. If that is so, we have already seen the best of Beard, and will now witness his decline. I do not believe he will disintegrate as Gillispie did for the simple reason that he is more mentally stable than Gillispie. But I am convinced he will never reach the heights in Austin that he did in Lubbock. And if Beard’s coaching career does decline, that will be only a modest recompense for him having kicked his great good fortune in the teeth

 

[Viper 12104]

4 minutes ago, Ricky's one-hitter said:

This is amazing. Via @Longhornfrenzy

Quote

He came, quite literally from dirt. 

 

TIL Bill Gillispie is a plant

[Ricky's one-hitter 9084]

 

https://247sports.com/Player/Kelel-Ware-46100150/

Edited April 2, 2021 by Ricky's one-hitter

[closetojumping 62565]

8 minutes ago, Ricky's one-hitter said:

This is amazing. Via @Longhornfrenzy

  Reveal hidden contents

Tech 247 mod is butthurt

Chris Beard: Following in Billy Clyde Gillispie's Footsteps41

JoeYeager

Chris Beard and Billy Clyde Gillispie did not get along. In 2011, Beard was an assistant coach for Gillispie at Texas Tech. During one interchange between Beard and Gillispie, the two very nearly came to blows and had to be separated by athletic director Kirby Hocutt. Gillispie went on to coach the Red Raiders during the 2011-12 season. Beard left Lubbock to coach in the ABA for a season.

Gillispie was fired during that season. His team was bad enough. But far worse was Gillispie’s behavior. His maltreatment of players, assistant coaches and staff was the stuff of legend. Gillispie was a sadistic abuser. He forced his players to practice for so long that one of them, Kader Tapsoba, developed stress fractures in his legs, and despite the injuries, was required to run bleachers.

Gillispie was also a megalomaniac. He came, quite literally from dirt. The son of a poor cattle truck driver in Abilene and then Graford, Texas, Gillispie rose through the coaching ranks to become the head coach at Kentucky, arguably the most prestigious coaching position in basketball, college or pro.

The meteoric ascendence was apparently too much for him to handle. For example, soon after being hired by Kentucky he picked a fight with a television corporation that covered the Wildcats. In essence, he refused to conduct interviews, which were considered entirely de rigeur, with that corporation. Gillispie and the TV outlet butted heads until he decided to cut a deal. If the corporation agreed to purchase a massive quantity of expensive suits of Gillispie’s choice, Gillispie would participate in interviews. The corporation agreed and spent many thousands of dollars on Gillispie’s wardrobe. When Gillispie was fired from Kentucky, the movers responsible for cleaning out Gillispie’s palace reported that his closets were filled with unworn suits.

Clearly, something snapped in Gillispie’s mind while he was at Kentucky. It is easy to surmise that, having worked his way from nothing to the pinnacle of the game of basketball, Gillispie deified himself. He lost touch with reality and viewed himself as a maker of his own laws rather than as a mere human being subject to the laws of society. Ultimately, this irrationality proved Gillispie’s downfall. After having led Texas A&M to the Sweet Sixteen in 2007, Gillispie’s career moved into retrograde at Kentucky and then Texas Tech. During his lone year at Tech, he checked himself into the Mayo Clinic for physical and mental health problems and resigned. His next coaching stop was at Ranger College, and he’s now the head coach at Tarleton. A far cry from Kentucky.

The past of Chris Beard, formerly head coach at Texas Tech and now at Texas, is not quite so checkered. Not yet, anyway. There have been no allegations of abusive behavior, and he has never been fired for any sort of wrongdoing. However, in light of Beard’s unutterably callous resignation from Texas Tech to take the head coaching position at arch-rival Texas, there are signs that Beard may be more like Gillispie than is supposed. And he may ultimately suffer a similar fate.

Beard’s early life is obscure. It’s a subject he has never discussed in any detail publicly. We know he was born in Marietta, Georgia, but spent most of his youth in The Woodlands and Irving, Texas.

Beard’s background may not have been as hardscrabble as Gillispie’s, but it is clear that he didn’t come from privilege. Beard has said on more than one occasion that “guys like me get only one chance.” He was implying that, unlike the golden boys of the profession, he didn’t have a network of high-placed backers to help him in the case of setbacks.

Beard was fond of referring to himself and his team as “street dogs,” in contrast to pampered and precious “pet shop dogs.” Again, he portrayed himself as a denizen of the lower ranks.

Beard also recounted how, as a young boy, he saved his nickels and dimes so he could attend a basketball camp at Texas Tech conducted by former Red Raider coach Gerald Myers. Such an action does not indicate that Beard came from wealth.

So, Beard presumably comes from a socioeconomic background not all that different from Gillispie, and he arguably climbed to even greater heights. Beard has yet to land a coaching position as prestigious as the Kentucky posting, but unlike Gillispie, Beard coached in the national title game, coming up one defensive stop short of winning a natty for Texas Tech.

Did this vertiginous ascent from obscurity to fame affect Beard psychologically as it seems to have affected Gillispie? There is reason to believe so.

Soon after the 2019 tournament run, Texas Tech held a party in United Supermarkets Arena to celebrate the stupendous season. ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla was master of ceremonies. Fraschilla related an interesting anecdote about Beard. He said that, soon after the title game, he was at a gala event for coaches in which Beard was in attendance. All of the luminaries were in some sort of buffet line. Beard had his food but demanded extra butter. The server replied that there was a limit on butter, no exceptions. According to Fraschilla, Beard replied: “Don’t you know who I am? I just led Texas Tech to the national championship game, and I can’t get extra butter?” The server responded, “And I’m the butter guy and you still get only one pad!”

Those in attendance tittered nervously. This story didn’t gibe with their image of Beard as the common man people’s coach. On the contrary, it reeked of extreme arrogance and egocentrism. This was not the Chris Beard they thought they knew.

Since that marvelous season, Beard really hasn’t been quite the same. He received a lavish contract reserved for only the royalty of the coaching profession. With generous subventions from Dustin Womble and many others, Beard oversaw the creation of an opulent new practice facility that outstrips any other in the college game. And “The Womble” was bedizened with a mammoth mural of Chris Beard himself. Whatever the Emperor of West Texas wanted, the Emperor of West Texas got.

During the past season, Beard repeatedly made the bizarre claim that, if the Red Raiders made the NCAA tournament, it would be Texas Tech’s fourth straight tourney appearance. But that clearly was not the case. The previous NCAA tournament had been cancelled, and had it not been cancelled, there was absolutely no certainty that Tech would have received an at-large berth. The general consensus was that the Red Raiders were squarely on the bubble. Here was a case of an Emperor trying to will history into existence. It was a textbook case of megalomania.

But the massive contract, the construction of the Womble Palace and the prerogative to reinvent Texas Tech basketball history as he saw fit, were not enough. A little more than a week after Texas coach Shaka Smart decamped to Marquette, Beard did the same to Texas.

Beard had been at Texas Tech, in one capacity or another, for 16 years. He improbably led the Red Raiders to an Elite Eight and then the national title game. Texas Tech, Lubbock and all of West Texas fell in love with Beard. Some people felt so strongly about Beard that they donated millions of dollars to the construction of The Womble with the understanding that this building would be a physical covenant between Texas Tech and Beard. Like a wedding band, this facility would bind Beard and Texas Tech together for the long haul. And Beard understood this subtext as well as anybody.

Nevertheless, when the coaching opportunity arose at Texas, the ultimate enemy of Texas Tech, Beard took a roto-tiller to the roots he had established in West Texas. He forsook and severed every single of the multifarious personal relations he had established in his time at Texas Tech. He abandoned the former players he recruited to become Red Raiders. And he pulled out an ice pick and stabbed in the back the hundreds of thousands of fans who adored him and supported him unconditionally.

It was an act of shocking disregard for the feelings of others. It was not only cruel, it was utterly thoughtless. It was as if all of the people who poured their heart and soul (and money) into Beard and his basketball program, meant absolutely nothing to him.

There is a psychological term for those who view other human beings as mere tools for their own gratification and aggrandizement. The term is sociopath. Whether or not Beard fits the clinical definition of a sociopath, I cannot say. But what I can say with complete certainty is that his behavior in accepting the Texas job was sociopathic.

And this brings us back to Billy Clyde Gillispie. Gillispie, presumably because he could not effectively process his own dirt-to-diamonds story, developed a megalomania in conjunction with his preexisting sadism, that led to his own downfall and nearly his self-destruction.

Chris Beard is manifesting a similar pattern. After the pinnacle of nearly winning the national championship, the quality of his next two basketball teams diminished dramatically. Two years ago, the Red Raiders finished 18-13 and may not have made the NCAA tournament had it not been cancelled. Last season, Tech finished 18-11 and was bounced by Arkansas from the Big Dance in the second round. Over the course of those two seasons, the Red Raiders recorded a 18-17 mark in Big XII play. Not bad, but hardly the stuff of coaching genius.

It is entirely possible that Beard’s mental condition has reduced his functioning as a coach and as a person. If that is so, we have already seen the best of Beard, and will now witness his decline. I do not believe he will disintegrate as Gillispie did for the simple reason that he is more mentally stable than Gillispie. But I am convinced he will never reach the heights in Austin that he did in Lubbock. And if Beard’s coaching career does decline, that will be only a modest recompense for him having kicked his great good fortune in the teeth

 

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!

That is perhaps the single greatest article I have ever read. It’s hilariously absurd. I may read it daily. Hahahahahahahaha

[UDontKnow 10441]

Seriously, there is a reason we call them Tceh Tards.

I think it is Tech, all of their fans, and all of Lubbock that live in a world of delusion. Tech might see us as their ultimate rival, but we certainly never have.

That story about extra butter just exudes pettiness. Beard is nowhere close to being in the same league as Gillispie and any stretch to compare the two is farcical.

How about acknowledging that this entirely a business? I don't recall Tech telling Beard to go back to UNLV to honor his contract and that it was wrong to ditch them after only 10 days.

Tech should act like they have been there. Oh wait, they haven't.

 

Edited April 2, 2021 by UDontKnow

[hookemATL 11706]

Almost have some pity for that writer. Seems like he was really in his feelings throughout that whole piece. Beard is a sociopath for taking a higher profile job at a more prestigious university with more opportunities to recruit and establish himself as a premier coach?  Holy shit that dude needs some help. We have all been dumped before and have lashed out but usually that was early in life. This guy seems like he will be holding a boombox in the rain outside Beard’s house soon in a desperate display of unrequited love and affection. 

[Bevo 13569]

26 minutes ago, hookemATL said:

Almost have some pity for that writer. Seems like he was really in his feelings throughout that whole piece. Beard is a sociopath for taking a higher profile job at a more prestigious university with more opportunities to recruit and establish himself as a premier coach?  Holy shit that dude needs some help. We have all been dumped before and have lashed out but usually that was early in life. This guy seems like he will be holding a boombox in the rain outside Beard’s house soon in a desperate display of unrequited love and affection. 

The photo is kind of small. Is that Better off Dead?

[gyroprotagonist 2592]

11 minutes ago, Bevo said:

The photo is kind of small. Is that Better off Dead?

it's from say anything

he had a much better ride in Better of Dead

back to your regularly scheduled recruiting talk

[SydneyCarton 48063]

1 hour ago, UDontKnow said:

Seriously, there is a reason we call them Tceh Tards.

I think it is Tech, all of their fans, and all of Lubbock that live in a world of delusion. Tech might see us as their ultimate rival, but we certainly never have.

That story about extra butter just exudes pettiness. Beard is nowhere close to being in the same league as Gillispie and any stretch to compare the two is farcical.

How about acknowledging that this entirely a business? I don't recall Tech telling Beard to go back to UNLV to honor his contract and that it was wrong to ditch them after only 10 days.

Tech should act like they have been there. Oh wait, they haven't.

 

Pretty sure Tceh Tards came from Aggy fans. So, yeah, I don't call them that and you probably shouldn't either. 

Just call them stupid fucking dipshits. 

[Dijon Robinson 1511]

1 hour ago, Ricky's one-hitter said:

This is amazing. Via @Longhornfrenzy

  Hide contents

Tech 247 mod is butthurt

Chris Beard: Following in Billy Clyde Gillispie's Footsteps41

JoeYeager

Chris Beard and Billy Clyde Gillispie did not get along. In 2011, Beard was an assistant coach for Gillispie at Texas Tech. During one interchange between Beard and Gillispie, the two very nearly came to blows and had to be separated by athletic director Kirby Hocutt. Gillispie went on to coach the Red Raiders during the 2011-12 season. Beard left Lubbock to coach in the ABA for a season.

Gillispie was fired during that season. His team was bad enough. But far worse was Gillispie’s behavior. His maltreatment of players, assistant coaches and staff was the stuff of legend. Gillispie was a sadistic abuser. He forced his players to practice for so long that one of them, Kader Tapsoba, developed stress fractures in his legs, and despite the injuries, was required to run bleachers.

Gillispie was also a megalomaniac. He came, quite literally from dirt. The son of a poor cattle truck driver in Abilene and then Graford, Texas, Gillispie rose through the coaching ranks to become the head coach at Kentucky, arguably the most prestigious coaching position in basketball, college or pro.

The meteoric ascendence was apparently too much for him to handle. For example, soon after being hired by Kentucky he picked a fight with a television corporation that covered the Wildcats. In essence, he refused to conduct interviews, which were considered entirely de rigeur, with that corporation. Gillispie and the TV outlet butted heads until he decided to cut a deal. If the corporation agreed to purchase a massive quantity of expensive suits of Gillispie’s choice, Gillispie would participate in interviews. The corporation agreed and spent many thousands of dollars on Gillispie’s wardrobe. When Gillispie was fired from Kentucky, the movers responsible for cleaning out Gillispie’s palace reported that his closets were filled with unworn suits.

Clearly, something snapped in Gillispie’s mind while he was at Kentucky. It is easy to surmise that, having worked his way from nothing to the pinnacle of the game of basketball, Gillispie deified himself. He lost touch with reality and viewed himself as a maker of his own laws rather than as a mere human being subject to the laws of society. Ultimately, this irrationality proved Gillispie’s downfall. After having led Texas A&M to the Sweet Sixteen in 2007, Gillispie’s career moved into retrograde at Kentucky and then Texas Tech. During his lone year at Tech, he checked himself into the Mayo Clinic for physical and mental health problems and resigned. His next coaching stop was at Ranger College, and he’s now the head coach at Tarleton. A far cry from Kentucky.

The past of Chris Beard, formerly head coach at Texas Tech and now at Texas, is not quite so checkered. Not yet, anyway. There have been no allegations of abusive behavior, and he has never been fired for any sort of wrongdoing. However, in light of Beard’s unutterably callous resignation from Texas Tech to take the head coaching position at arch-rival Texas, there are signs that Beard may be more like Gillispie than is supposed. And he may ultimately suffer a similar fate.

Beard’s early life is obscure. It’s a subject he has never discussed in any detail publicly. We know he was born in Marietta, Georgia, but spent most of his youth in The Woodlands and Irving, Texas.

Beard’s background may not have been as hardscrabble as Gillispie’s, but it is clear that he didn’t come from privilege. Beard has said on more than one occasion that “guys like me get only one chance.” He was implying that, unlike the golden boys of the profession, he didn’t have a network of high-placed backers to help him in the case of setbacks.

Beard was fond of referring to himself and his team as “street dogs,” in contrast to pampered and precious “pet shop dogs.” Again, he portrayed himself as a denizen of the lower ranks.

Beard also recounted how, as a young boy, he saved his nickels and dimes so he could attend a basketball camp at Texas Tech conducted by former Red Raider coach Gerald Myers. Such an action does not indicate that Beard came from wealth.

So, Beard presumably comes from a socioeconomic background not all that different from Gillispie, and he arguably climbed to even greater heights. Beard has yet to land a coaching position as prestigious as the Kentucky posting, but unlike Gillispie, Beard coached in the national title game, coming up one defensive stop short of winning a natty for Texas Tech.

Did this vertiginous ascent from obscurity to fame affect Beard psychologically as it seems to have affected Gillispie? There is reason to believe so.

Soon after the 2019 tournament run, Texas Tech held a party in United Supermarkets Arena to celebrate the stupendous season. ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla was master of ceremonies. Fraschilla related an interesting anecdote about Beard. He said that, soon after the title game, he was at a gala event for coaches in which Beard was in attendance. All of the luminaries were in some sort of buffet line. Beard had his food but demanded extra butter. The server replied that there was a limit on butter, no exceptions. According to Fraschilla, Beard replied: “Don’t you know who I am? I just led Texas Tech to the national championship game, and I can’t get extra butter?” The server responded, “And I’m the butter guy and you still get only one pad!”

Those in attendance tittered nervously. This story didn’t gibe with their image of Beard as the common man people’s coach. On the contrary, it reeked of extreme arrogance and egocentrism. This was not the Chris Beard they thought they knew.

Since that marvelous season, Beard really hasn’t been quite the same. He received a lavish contract reserved for only the royalty of the coaching profession. With generous subventions from Dustin Womble and many others, Beard oversaw the creation of an opulent new practice facility that outstrips any other in the college game. And “The Womble” was bedizened with a mammoth mural of Chris Beard himself. Whatever the Emperor of West Texas wanted, the Emperor of West Texas got.

During the past season, Beard repeatedly made the bizarre claim that, if the Red Raiders made the NCAA tournament, it would be Texas Tech’s fourth straight tourney appearance. But that clearly was not the case. The previous NCAA tournament had been cancelled, and had it not been cancelled, there was absolutely no certainty that Tech would have received an at-large berth. The general consensus was that the Red Raiders were squarely on the bubble. Here was a case of an Emperor trying to will history into existence. It was a textbook case of megalomania.

But the massive contract, the construction of the Womble Palace and the prerogative to reinvent Texas Tech basketball history as he saw fit, were not enough. A little more than a week after Texas coach Shaka Smart decamped to Marquette, Beard did the same to Texas.

Beard had been at Texas Tech, in one capacity or another, for 16 years. He improbably led the Red Raiders to an Elite Eight and then the national title game. Texas Tech, Lubbock and all of West Texas fell in love with Beard. Some people felt so strongly about Beard that they donated millions of dollars to the construction of The Womble with the understanding that this building would be a physical covenant between Texas Tech and Beard. Like a wedding band, this facility would bind Beard and Texas Tech together for the long haul. And Beard understood this subtext as well as anybody.

Nevertheless, when the coaching opportunity arose at Texas, the ultimate enemy of Texas Tech, Beard took a roto-tiller to the roots he had established in West Texas. He forsook and severed every single of the multifarious personal relations he had established in his time at Texas Tech. He abandoned the former players he recruited to become Red Raiders. And he pulled out an ice pick and stabbed in the back the hundreds of thousands of fans who adored him and supported him unconditionally.

It was an act of shocking disregard for the feelings of others. It was not only cruel, it was utterly thoughtless. It was as if all of the people who poured their heart and soul (and money) into Beard and his basketball program, meant absolutely nothing to him.

There is a psychological term for those who view other human beings as mere tools for their own gratification and aggrandizement. The term is sociopath. Whether or not Beard fits the clinical definition of a sociopath, I cannot say. But what I can say with complete certainty is that his behavior in accepting the Texas job was sociopathic.

And this brings us back to Billy Clyde Gillispie. Gillispie, presumably because he could not effectively process his own dirt-to-diamonds story, developed a megalomania in conjunction with his preexisting sadism, that led to his own downfall and nearly his self-destruction.

Chris Beard is manifesting a similar pattern. After the pinnacle of nearly winning the national championship, the quality of his next two basketball teams diminished dramatically. Two years ago, the Red Raiders finished 18-13 and may not have made the NCAA tournament had it not been cancelled. Last season, Tech finished 18-11 and was bounced by Arkansas from the Big Dance in the second round. Over the course of those two seasons, the Red Raiders recorded a 18-17 mark in Big XII play. Not bad, but hardly the stuff of coaching genius.

It is entirely possible that Beard’s mental condition has reduced his functioning as a coach and as a person. If that is so, we have already seen the best of Beard, and will now witness his decline. I do not believe he will disintegrate as Gillispie did for the simple reason that he is more mentally stable than Gillispie. But I am convinced he will never reach the heights in Austin that he did in Lubbock. And if Beard’s coaching career does decline, that will be only a modest recompense for him having kicked his great good fortune in the teeth

 

I read this and came away convinced that someone was mentally unstable, but that person wasn't Chris Beard

[Doc Reeves 6434]

1 hour ago, Ricky's one-hitter said:

This is amazing. Via @Longhornfrenzy

  Reveal hidden contents

Tech 247 mod is butthurt

Chris Beard: Following in Billy Clyde Gillispie's Footsteps41

JoeYeager

Chris Beard and Billy Clyde Gillispie did not get along. In 2011, Beard was an assistant coach for Gillispie at Texas Tech. During one interchange between Beard and Gillispie, the two very nearly came to blows and had to be separated by athletic director Kirby Hocutt. Gillispie went on to coach the Red Raiders during the 2011-12 season. Beard left Lubbock to coach in the ABA for a season.

Gillispie was fired during that season. His team was bad enough. But far worse was Gillispie’s behavior. His maltreatment of players, assistant coaches and staff was the stuff of legend. Gillispie was a sadistic abuser. He forced his players to practice for so long that one of them, Kader Tapsoba, developed stress fractures in his legs, and despite the injuries, was required to run bleachers.

Gillispie was also a megalomaniac. He came, quite literally from dirt. The son of a poor cattle truck driver in Abilene and then Graford, Texas, Gillispie rose through the coaching ranks to become the head coach at Kentucky, arguably the most prestigious coaching position in basketball, college or pro.

The meteoric ascendence was apparently too much for him to handle. For example, soon after being hired by Kentucky he picked a fight with a television corporation that covered the Wildcats. In essence, he refused to conduct interviews, which were considered entirely de rigeur, with that corporation. Gillispie and the TV outlet butted heads until he decided to cut a deal. If the corporation agreed to purchase a massive quantity of expensive suits of Gillispie’s choice, Gillispie would participate in interviews. The corporation agreed and spent many thousands of dollars on Gillispie’s wardrobe. When Gillispie was fired from Kentucky, the movers responsible for cleaning out Gillispie’s palace reported that his closets were filled with unworn suits.

Clearly, something snapped in Gillispie’s mind while he was at Kentucky. It is easy to surmise that, having worked his way from nothing to the pinnacle of the game of basketball, Gillispie deified himself. He lost touch with reality and viewed himself as a maker of his own laws rather than as a mere human being subject to the laws of society. Ultimately, this irrationality proved Gillispie’s downfall. After having led Texas A&M to the Sweet Sixteen in 2007, Gillispie’s career moved into retrograde at Kentucky and then Texas Tech. During his lone year at Tech, he checked himself into the Mayo Clinic for physical and mental health problems and resigned. His next coaching stop was at Ranger College, and he’s now the head coach at Tarleton. A far cry from Kentucky.

The past of Chris Beard, formerly head coach at Texas Tech and now at Texas, is not quite so checkered. Not yet, anyway. There have been no allegations of abusive behavior, and he has never been fired for any sort of wrongdoing. However, in light of Beard’s unutterably callous resignation from Texas Tech to take the head coaching position at arch-rival Texas, there are signs that Beard may be more like Gillispie than is supposed. And he may ultimately suffer a similar fate.

Beard’s early life is obscure. It’s a subject he has never discussed in any detail publicly. We know he was born in Marietta, Georgia, but spent most of his youth in The Woodlands and Irving, Texas.

Beard’s background may not have been as hardscrabble as Gillispie’s, but it is clear that he didn’t come from privilege. Beard has said on more than one occasion that “guys like me get only one chance.” He was implying that, unlike the golden boys of the profession, he didn’t have a network of high-placed backers to help him in the case of setbacks.

Beard was fond of referring to himself and his team as “street dogs,” in contrast to pampered and precious “pet shop dogs.” Again, he portrayed himself as a denizen of the lower ranks.

Beard also recounted how, as a young boy, he saved his nickels and dimes so he could attend a basketball camp at Texas Tech conducted by former Red Raider coach Gerald Myers. Such an action does not indicate that Beard came from wealth.

So, Beard presumably comes from a socioeconomic background not all that different from Gillispie, and he arguably climbed to even greater heights. Beard has yet to land a coaching position as prestigious as the Kentucky posting, but unlike Gillispie, Beard coached in the national title game, coming up one defensive stop short of winning a natty for Texas Tech.

Did this vertiginous ascent from obscurity to fame affect Beard psychologically as it seems to have affected Gillispie? There is reason to believe so.

Soon after the 2019 tournament run, Texas Tech held a party in United Supermarkets Arena to celebrate the stupendous season. ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla was master of ceremonies. Fraschilla related an interesting anecdote about Beard. He said that, soon after the title game, he was at a gala event for coaches in which Beard was in attendance. All of the luminaries were in some sort of buffet line. Beard had his food but demanded extra butter. The server replied that there was a limit on butter, no exceptions. According to Fraschilla, Beard replied: “Don’t you know who I am? I just led Texas Tech to the national championship game, and I can’t get extra butter?” The server responded, “And I’m the butter guy and you still get only one pad!”

Those in attendance tittered nervously. This story didn’t gibe with their image of Beard as the common man people’s coach. On the contrary, it reeked of extreme arrogance and egocentrism. This was not the Chris Beard they thought they knew.

Since that marvelous season, Beard really hasn’t been quite the same. He received a lavish contract reserved for only the royalty of the coaching profession. With generous subventions from Dustin Womble and many others, Beard oversaw the creation of an opulent new practice facility that outstrips any other in the college game. And “The Womble” was bedizened with a mammoth mural of Chris Beard himself. Whatever the Emperor of West Texas wanted, the Emperor of West Texas got.

During the past season, Beard repeatedly made the bizarre claim that, if the Red Raiders made the NCAA tournament, it would be Texas Tech’s fourth straight tourney appearance. But that clearly was not the case. The previous NCAA tournament had been cancelled, and had it not been cancelled, there was absolutely no certainty that Tech would have received an at-large berth. The general consensus was that the Red Raiders were squarely on the bubble. Here was a case of an Emperor trying to will history into existence. It was a textbook case of megalomania.

But the massive contract, the construction of the Womble Palace and the prerogative to reinvent Texas Tech basketball history as he saw fit, were not enough. A little more than a week after Texas coach Shaka Smart decamped to Marquette, Beard did the same to Texas.

Beard had been at Texas Tech, in one capacity or another, for 16 years. He improbably led the Red Raiders to an Elite Eight and then the national title game. Texas Tech, Lubbock and all of West Texas fell in love with Beard. Some people felt so strongly about Beard that they donated millions of dollars to the construction of The Womble with the understanding that this building would be a physical covenant between Texas Tech and Beard. Like a wedding band, this facility would bind Beard and Texas Tech together for the long haul. And Beard understood this subtext as well as anybody.

Nevertheless, when the coaching opportunity arose at Texas, the ultimate enemy of Texas Tech, Beard took a roto-tiller to the roots he had established in West Texas. He forsook and severed every single of the multifarious personal relations he had established in his time at Texas Tech. He abandoned the former players he recruited to become Red Raiders. And he pulled out an ice pick and stabbed in the back the hundreds of thousands of fans who adored him and supported him unconditionally.

It was an act of shocking disregard for the feelings of others. It was not only cruel, it was utterly thoughtless. It was as if all of the people who poured their heart and soul (and money) into Beard and his basketball program, meant absolutely nothing to him.

There is a psychological term for those who view other human beings as mere tools for their own gratification and aggrandizement. The term is sociopath. Whether or not Beard fits the clinical definition of a sociopath, I cannot say. But what I can say with complete certainty is that his behavior in accepting the Texas job was sociopathic.

And this brings us back to Billy Clyde Gillispie. Gillispie, presumably because he could not effectively process his own dirt-to-diamonds story, developed a megalomania in conjunction with his preexisting sadism, that led to his own downfall and nearly his self-destruction.

Chris Beard is manifesting a similar pattern. After the pinnacle of nearly winning the national championship, the quality of his next two basketball teams diminished dramatically. Two years ago, the Red Raiders finished 18-13 and may not have made the NCAA tournament had it not been cancelled. Last season, Tech finished 18-11 and was bounced by Arkansas from the Big Dance in the second round. Over the course of those two seasons, the Red Raiders recorded a 18-17 mark in Big XII play. Not bad, but hardly the stuff of coaching genius.

It is entirely possible that Beard’s mental condition has reduced his functioning as a coach and as a person. If that is so, we have already seen the best of Beard, and will now witness his decline. I do not believe he will disintegrate as Gillispie did for the simple reason that he is more mentally stable than Gillispie. But I am convinced he will never reach the heights in Austin that he did in Lubbock. And if Beard’s coaching career does decline, that will be only a modest recompense for him having kicked his great good fortune in the teeth

 

Thats a lot of words to say “I’m butthurt, where’s my blankey?”

[Pato del Muerto 52487]

“I’ve looked at this from all angles and every perspective and the only logical explanation for the move is that Beard is a sociopathic alcoholic.  And based on that, it’s actually a good thing for us that he has moved on.”

[Funk Doctor Spock 12179]

17 hours ago, Machinator said:

 

You think he'll transfer here with Micah Peavy (assuming he comes)?

[Nowhichski 32]

It would be pretty crazy to, in one year, replace an entire coaching staff with a better and, like, 75% of the team, as well. 

[maninblack 7974]

Just now, Nowhichski said:

It would be pretty crazy to, in one year, replace an entire coaching staff with a better and, like, 75% of the team, as well. 

He's about to turnaround this roster. We went from not making the tourney with that pathetic excuse for a coach to competing for the B12 title.

[Pato del Muerto 52487]

If the practice facility was a physical covenant, do they have to knock it down now?

or could they maybe use it to help attract another good coach and continue using it as a recruiting tool for players?

there’s just no way to know. 

Edited April 2, 2021 by Pato del Muerto

[closetojumping 62565]

I just read it again. It is unbelievable. The part about the "physical covenant" has made me laugh out loud, hard, twice now.

I'm looking this guy up. It has to be a deep troll from one of the better writers here or something. It reminds me of ThePeople'sElbow's nom de plume "Kevin Kubecheski" and the write-up comparing the ATM/UT recruiting classes after signing day in like 2003, where he posted it on Texags and acted serious. "TE: Neither program took a TE in this class. Advantage: Texas A&M" might have finally been surpassed here. It's fucking greatness. 

[Machinator 32099]

IT

Spoiler

BASKETBALL

CG Anthony Black, Coppell (2022): There have already been predictions put in for the 6-foot-6 combo guard to Texas since the hiring of Chris Beard. IT isn’t slamming the brakes, but we are tapping the brakes for now. Black’s step father is Duncanville head coach David Peavy, and there will not be emotional decisions even if Micah Peavy were to jump into the portal and eventually land at Texas. With only five players on the court and likely a 7 to 8 man rotation at the majority of schools Black could choose to attend, school fit is still No. 1.

A source close to Black on Thursday evening, “Anthony loves Texas and likes Coach Beard, but Anthony’s recruitment will not end due to the Texas hire. There has to be conversations and a great fit.”

Black has family connections to both Texas and Baylor. His mother played soccer at Texas before transferring to Baylor to finish her career. His father played basketball at Baylor.

SG Keyonte George, iSchool Entrepreneurial (Lewisville, Tx) (2022): IT spoke with a source extremely close to the 6-foot-4 scoring guard Thursday, and the Beard hire only helps Texas. Texas was already the quiet leader for George, while Texas Tech was in his top three. Texas is certainly in a good spot as of today. There has been chatter about George going pro after high school, but right now a year in college seems more likely.

#####

How Texas builds the roster and finalizes the 2021 recruiting class will directly impact Texas’ first full recruiting class under Beard. Beard loves G/W Jaylon Tyson. There is little doubt from what IT was told that Beard would love to see the 6-foot-6, 185-pounder in Austin. Tyson, from John Paul II, was Beard’s lone 2021 signee for Tech.

What happens with Texas’ four signees will also factor in heavily into the plans for the 2021-22 season.

The staff will be in the transfer market at point guard, wing and on the interior as well. We won’t dive into speculation on names here yet, but will address it in the coming days.

Here are some points to understand.

*When it comes to recruiting strategy, Beard’s staff didn’t recruit as hard in-season as some others per a source who has had multiple players recruited by Beard and a number of other high major staffs. Texas Tech was all basketball during the season. That doesn’t mean the staff didn’t recruit hard, but there was open dialogue that during the season basketball was going to be the focus of the staff. That was not seen as a negative according to this source.

In terms of what Texas’ staff could look like under Beard, Chris Ogden was not the only sitting head coach that Beard has targeted. IT was told on Tuesday that a plan could include going after Rodney Terry in addition to Ogden.

*For those wondering about T.J. Ford, IT spoke to a source very close to Ford Friday morning and getting into coaching is not in the plans as of today.

*For those wondering about Royal Ivey being part of Beard’s staff in Austin, that’s not likely as for today. Ivey has a good career path in the NBA, but coaching at Texas is the only college gig he would consider at this point.

*Beard’s approach will be to build a team, not just a collection of “talent.” They’ll want stars but they have to fit the overall system and exude other characteristics — toughness and work ethic — Beard selects for.

*In case you missed Justin’s note on Greg Brown III, there’s growing optimism he’ll return to get a year of development.

 

[Ricky's one-hitter 9084]

10 minutes ago, Machinator said:

*In case you missed Justin’s note on Greg Brown III, there’s growing optimism he’ll return to get a year of development.

That would be...quite the development

[closetojumping 62565]

Here's another one from yesterday from this guy. He runs down one of their star players for entering the portal and laboriously works through why the guy was a mediocrity and they'll be better off without him. The player, Kyler Edwards, inconveniently led the team in minutes played, assists per game, averaged 10pts and 5 rebounds, shot 42% from 3 point land and was second on the team in steals. He scored 12 points as a freshman in the national title game - but they're better off without this trash, just like the coach who just "absconded" to Austin. 

https://247sports.com/college/texas-tech/Article/Kyler-Edwards-Abandons-Ship-Chris-Beard-163095872/

He's used a couple of words in the two articles that I actually had to look up. I mean, I'm impressed with whatever thesaurus app he's using, but it is hilariously forced. "One of the most common reasons players transfer is a lack of playing time. That cannot have been Edwards’ gravamen. " Gravamen - right. I know what abscond means, but on the rare occasion someone's used it in conversation I've simultaneously added them the list of people I'd like to punch in the face repeatedly. @SydneyCarton , not coincidentally, incorporates both "gravamen" and "abscond" in his casual conversations on a daily basis.

I'm going to subscribe to their site just so I can read his shit. Maybe I'll use a tech-esque handle and square off with him in DonQuixote-Ignatius J Reilly-level sparring matches of the obliviously absurd. 

Edited April 2, 2021 by closetojumping