Chris Beard interviews for Ole Miss head coaching job

Ole Miss basketball’s head coaching search is heating up, now with a big name entering the picture.

On3 affiliate Ole Miss Spirit is reporting that athletics director Keith Carter and university chancellor Glenn Boyce met with former Texas head coach Chris Beard on Monday in regard to the program’s coaching vacancy. The discussions come after the Rebels fired Kermit Davis on February 24 after five seasons in Oxford.

OMSpirit originally reported that a decision on Davis’ replacement would likely be made at the conclusion of the SEC Tournament in Nashville, meaning a move is on the horizon. The On3 affiliate added that Dusty May (FAU), Chris Holtmann (Ohio State), Ryan Odom (Utah State), Bucky McMillan (Samford) and Chris Mack (currently unemployed, formerly of Louisville) have all been vetted for the job, while Will Wade (unemployed, formerly of LSU) and Penny Hardaway (Memphis) have “failed to pick up any kind of steam” despite being “obvious fits.”

Assistant coach Win Case earned interim status after Davis was let go, with the Rebels closing out the regular season with an 11-20 record overall and 3-15 in SEC games. They are the No. 13 seed in the SEC Tournament this week, taking on South Carolina in the first round Wednesday evening.

Beard steps in as the program’s top target after being fired at Texas following an alleged altercation with his fiancee back in January, initially charged with assault. Those charges were later dropped.

The 50-year-old coach won 112 games at Texas Tech and 29 at Texas, leading the Red Raiders to the Elite Eight and the national championship game before making the move to Austin. He went 22-12 in his first year with the Longhorns and started out his second season 7-1 before losing his job.

Unemployed, Ole Miss can move quickly on Beard if they choose to do so — and if that’s the job Beard wants. Because it won’t be the only one available for him.

In fact, a return to Lubbock could be a possibility following the suspension of current Texas Tech coach Mark Adams, who used an “inappropriate, unacceptable, and racially insensitive comment last week,” the school announced. Though the Red Raiders have not made a long-term decision on Adams’ future, ESPN’s Pete Thamel said Monday on Outside The Lines that Beard’s name “looms large” inside the program.

There would need to be an approval of a re-hiring within the school due to Beard’s off-court events, but if he’s on the market, Thamel has a hard time believing Texas Tech won’t consider it.

“It is difficult to imagine a post-Mark Adams Texas Tech without Chris Beard’s name at least being brought up in conversation, vetted, bandied about,” Thamel said. “He is one of the most popular coaches in school history. … I am not saying it’s inevitable that he is going to be hired or imminent that he is going to be hired, but that name looms large over Texas Tech right now.”

Will Beard join the SEC or return home to Lubbock? Could another program throw its hat into the ring?