Chris Beard Ranked 64th out of 68 In List By ESPN.com
In a fantasy bracket put together by ESPN that ranks the coaches by how good they are at playing basketball head Texas Tech coach, and coach of the year finalist, Chris Beard found himself at the bottom of the barrel. Of the 68 coaches involved in the NCAA Tournament, Chris Beard was ranked 64th.
If you want to see the entire list you can check it out here, but the gist of it is that if you didn't play college basketball, you aren't in the mix for a higher seed. I can't say I'm surprised that Beard is so low on the list, he tore his ACL last season setting a screen in practice.
Here's what the ESPN article gives as Chris Beards playing highlights, "Beard was a regular for McCullough High School in The Woodlands, Texas, but did not play college basketball at Texas. Then-Longhorns coach Tom Penders gave Beard a managerial job, and he'd eventually become a student assistant at the school."
Beard did get ranked in front of fellow Big 12 coach Bruce Weber from Kansas State, Scott Drew from Baylor and wasn't dead last like Bruce Pearl from Auburn so that's the good news.
The highest ranked Big 12 Coach? Lon Kruger from Oklahoma. He played in the NBA, spent a year in the minors for the St. Louis Cardinals and was a training camp invite to play quarterback with the Dallas Cowboys. Impressive resume athletically.
Number one on the list? Chris Mullins of St. Johns. Yeah, duh.