LUBBOCK, TX – Former Angelo State University Men's Basketball Coach Chris Beard has been awarded the AP Coach of the Year for the Division One Men's NCAA Basketball on Thursday.
Texas Tech hired Coach Beard in 2016 and in the 2017 season he took the Red Raiders to the Elite Eight. This year he has taken his team one step further to the NCAA Tournament Final Four thanks to All-American Jarrett Culver and the team's tough defense. The Red Raider also won the Big 12 regular season championship for the first time in school history.
Out of the 64 votes from the same panel that selects the weekly AP top 25, Coach Beard 20 of the votes. Houston's Head Coach Kelvin Sampson came in second with 13 of the votes. The rest of the coaches in the country had less than 10 votes.
Coach Beard was at Angelo State for two seasons and he took his team to the third round of the Division Two NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. He went 47-15 in the regular season and 19-9 in conference play while being the Rams head coach.
""It's humbling, it's just kind of surreal when I look at the names of coaches," Beard said. "To be in that neighborhood has just always been a dream of mine. ... To me it's just kind of a team award. I really believe that everybody in my past is a big, big part of this as well."
Coach Beard and the Red Raiders will face the Michigan State Spartans Saturday night in Minneapolis, MN. If they win this game they will play the winner of Virginia and Auburn in the NCAA Championship Game.
According to Texas Tech the following is the results of the AP Coach of the Year Vote:
- Chris Beard, Texas Tech — 20
- Kelvin Sampson, Houston — 13
- Mike Young, Wofford — 6
- Nate Oats, Buffalo — 5
- Rick Barnes, Tennessee — 4
- Tony Bennett, Virginia — 3
- Mark Few, Gonzaga — 3
- Tom Izzo, Michigan State — 2
- Matt Painter, Purdue — 2
- Roy Williams, North Carolina — 2
- John Beilein, Michigan — 1
- Mike Krzyzewski, Duke — 1
- Matt Langel, Colgate — 1
- Eric Musselman, Nevada — 1
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