UT hires TTU Basketball Coach Chris Beard, according to reports

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Texas Tech Basketball Coach Chris Beard’s contract buyout dropped to a cool $4 million on Thursday, April 1 (4:1) and it appears it is not an April Fools Joke, sources are reporting Chris Beard will be the Texas Longhorns next head coach.

Jeff Goodman, basketball analyst at Stadium was the first to report, with Jeff Borzelli at ESPN also announcing Beard to Texas.

BREAKING: Texas is hiring Texas Tech coach Chris Beard, source told @Stadium.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 1, 2021

Multiple sources identified Beard as a front runner to be the next coach of the Longhorns after Shaka Smart’s departure from the University of Texas. Smart parted ways with UT to take the head coaching job at Marquette University.

Beard is an alum from the University of Texas, graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Kinesiology back in 1995. Beard served as a student assistant for the Longhorns during his time at UT.