Big 12 Basketball

Texas fired men's basketball coach Chris Beard on Thursday and announced Rodney Terry will finish out the 2022-23 season as acting head coach.

Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman added the Longhorns fired Beard for cause. Texas suspended the 49-year-old in mid-December following his arrest on a third-degree felony charge of assault by strangulation, family violence.

The American-Stateman's Danny Davis shared the university's termination letter:

Perry Minton, Beard's lawyer, disputed the notion the circumstances behind the firing provided the university with cause:

Austin police said officers responded to a disturbance call on Dec. 12. The altercation was over when authorities arrived and they "located a woman who stated she had been assaulted and strangled by Christopher Michael Beard."

Per the arrest affidavit (via the American-Statesman), an officer at the scene was told Beard and his fiancée, Randi Trew, "had been upset with each other for several days over relationship issues."

During an argument, Trew said Beard "just snapped on me and became super violent" after she accidentally broke his reading glasses. She also told police at one point he "choked me, threw me off the bed, bit me, bruises all over my leg, throwing me around, and going nuts."

In the affidavit, police said they saw injuries to Trew, including a "bite mark to the right forearm, abrasion to the right eyebrow, abrasion to the left leg from the knee to the foot, and a cut to the left thumb with dried blood." Police said Trew also made a statement that she had suffered these injuries.

Trew issued a statement on Dec. 23 recanting what she had told police. She said Beard didn't strangle her, adding she didn't refute his assertion he was acting in self-defense when the alleged assault occurred.

Following Trew's statement, Texas said the investigation remained ongoing.

The district attorney's office in Travis County also confirmed Wednesday that prosecutors were still looking at all of the evidence in the case.

Texas hired Beard in April 2021, giving him a seven-year, $35 million contract. His $5.3 million salary was the sixth-highest in Division I last season.

The Longhorns went 22-12 in 2021-22 and reached the second round of the 2022 NCAA tournament. They've gotten off to a 12-2 start in 2022-23 and sit sixth in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

No. 6 Texas' six-game winning streak came to an end on Tuesday night with a 116-103 loss to Kansas State.

Per ESPN's Myron Medcalf, the 219 combined points set a new Big 12 record for a regulation game.

The previous record was 199 points when Texas beat Colorado 104-95 on Feb. 9, 2002.

Medcalf noted the Wildcats' 116 points were the most by an unranked opponent against a top-10 team since Loyola Marymount's 122-114 loss to LSU in 1990.

Kansas State played a consistent game, scoring 58 points in the first and second half.

The Longhorns tried to make it interesting in the second half. They scored 63 points in the final 20 minutes and cut the deficit to eight at 96-88 after Marcus Carr's three-pointer with four minutes, 54 seconds remaining.

Kansas State responded with a 7-0 run immediately after that to seal the win. Fifth-year senior Markquis Nowell scored a career-high 36 points and went 6-of-10 from behind the arc.

Keyontae Johnson finished with 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Wildcats.

Carr dropped 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting with six rebounds and six assists in 36 minutes. Tyrese Hunter had a team-high 29 points in the loss.

Texas (12-2) is ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press Top 25 for the second consecutive week. The team had won six straight games since an 85-78 loss to Illinois on Dec. 6.

Kansas State (13-1) is unranked but was among the teams receiving votes in this week's AP poll. The Wildcats have another marquee matchup against No. 19 Baylor on Saturday. A win in that game would almost certainly put them in the top 25 next week.

The following article contains descriptions of interpersonal violence.

The Texas Longhorns announced men's basketball coach Chris Beard was suspended ahead of Monday's game against Rice following his arrest.

"The University takes matters of interpersonal violence involving members of its community seriously," Texas said in a statement, per Dana O'Neil of The Athletic. "… The University has suspended Chris Beard from his position as head coach of Men's Basketball and will withhold his pay until further notice."

The school also said associate head coach Rodney Terry will serve as acting head coach.

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reported Beard was arrested and booked on a charge of assault against a family/household member, a third-degree felony, early Monday morning.

Tony Plohetski, Danny Davis and Ryan Autullo of the Austin American-Statesman reported Beard was booked into jail at 4:18 a.m. and released on a $100,000 bond.

The Austin American-Statesman report cited Beard's affidavit, which said a woman who said she was the head coach's fiancée told police "he just snapped on me and became super violent" after she broke his reading glasses while taking them from his hand.

She said he slapped her glasses off her face and "choked me, threw me off the bed, bit me, bruises all over my leg, throwing me around, and going nuts."

The woman also said Beard used his arm to impede her breathing and choke her from behind for five seconds.

According to the affidavit, the woman's visible injuries included a bite mark, abrasions to the right eyebrow and left leg, and dried blood on a cut on her left thumb.

Perry Minton, who is Beard's attorney, said he is "100 percent innocent of these charges. He should never have been arrested."

Beard was the head coach of Little Rock and Texas Tech before joining the Longhorns ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.

Texas is 7-1 on the season. Its next game following Monday's is Sunday against Stanford.

Texas men's basketball coach Chris Beard was arrested early Monday morning and charged with assault on a family/household member, a third-degree felony, according to Tony Plohetski of the Austin American-Statesman and Matt Norlander of CBS Sports.

Austin police reported to a "disturbance hot shot" at 12:15 a.m. local time, per Norlander.

According to the Travis County Sheriff's Office (via The Athletic), Beard's official charge is "assault by strangulation/suffocation – family violence."

Beard is engaged and has three daughters from a previous marriage.

Per the sheriff's office (via The Athletic), Beard's bond was set at $10,000. The Athletic also noted additional conditions to the bond:

"An additional condition of the bond requires Beard to stay 200 yards away from the victim and from his house as the case is pending. There is also a protection order in place, meaning Beard cannot communicate in a threatening way with the victim through Feb. 10, 2023."

Dana O'Neil of The Athletic reported on Monday afternoon that it appears Beard is no longer in jail:

Beard has since been suspended without pay, with associate head coach Rodney Terry set to fill in as the head coach for Monday's game against Rice at the Moody Center in Austin.

The 49-year-old is in his second season with Texas, joining his alma mater after spending the previous five years with Texas Tech.

He led the Longhorns to the NCAA tournament in his first season before helping the squad to a 7-1 start to the 2022-23 campaign. Texas won its first six games, reaching No. 2 in the Associated Press poll, before suffering its first loss last week against Illinois.

Beard has a 171-73 career record in Division I across eight seasons with Texas, Texas Tech and Little Rock, including one Final Four appearance.

The No. 22 Tennessee Volunteers are Battle 4 Atlantis champions after upsetting the No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks 64-50 on Friday night.

It was a tough loss for the Jayhawks, who struggled to get anything going offensively all night. Junior forward Jalen Wilson and junior guard Joseph Yesufu led Kansas with 14 points each, but the production was minimal beyond those two.

Freshman guard Gradey Dick, who entered Friday's game averaging 16.8 points, finished with just seven points. Senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr., who was averaging 10.2 points, finished with seven points.

It was an all-around disappointing performance by Kansas, which dropped to 6-1 on the season with the loss. College basketball fans on Twitter ripped the reigning national champions following the defeat:

While it was a disappointing loss for the Jayhawks, there's still plenty of season left and no reason to panic just yet.

Kansas will be back in action on Monday against Texas Southern.

AJ Johnson is heading to Texas.

The 5-star combo guard announced his intention to play for the Longhorns next season, choosing Texas over Louisville, USC, LSU and several other high-profile offers.

“I’m going to Texas,” Johnson said, per Joe Tipton of On3.com. “I chose Texas because I have seen what they do every day and the people around them. I just feel like it’s where I’ll be the most comfortable. Also, I chose Texas because of how they let their guards go and their fan base. The city of Austin is lit.”

Johnson joins 5-star forward Ron Holland to give Chris Beard two building-block talents for his 2023 class. Holland and Johnson are the only two players to commit to the Longhorns thus far, but they're both immediate-impact talents.

A 6'5" guard who has been rising up recruiting rankings, Johnson is the No. 15 player and second-ranked combo guard in this graduating class, per 247Sports' composite rankings. He's still clearly growing into his lanky frame—he's listed at just 160 pounds—but has first-round NBA tools. He can shoot and create off the dribble, finish through contact at the rim and has top-level athleticism.

Provided he adds a bit more bulk to his frame, Johnson has the type of tools that will draw instant interest from NBA scouts. He'll arrive on campus with Holland to massive expectations, and Beard has limited history coaching 5-star prospects after largely relying on transfers and coaching up players at previous stops.

That said, if a player of Johnson's potential meshes well with a coach of Beard's history in development, the sky is the limit.

As the Texas Longhorns men's basketball team hosts the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Wednesday night, it could be looking at its replacement in the Big 12 ahead of its impending departure to the SEC.

According to Action Network's Brett McMurphy, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford met earlier Wednesday in Austin and there is "growing mutual interest" for the Bulldogs to join the Big 12.

Texas is set to leave the Big 12 along with Oklahoma and they will become official members of the SEC on July 1, 2025. The Big 12 has already announced that BYU, Houston, Cincinnati and UCF will join the conference beginning in July 2023.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reported earlier this month that Gonzaga and the Big 12 were engaged in talks about joining the conference. The Bulldogs are a basketball powerhouse that plays in the West Coast Conference, which is a mid-major. Thamel noted that the school is fielding multiple discussions to move to a Power Five league.

"Sources indicate that Gonzaga has been exploring its conference options, as it has emerged as one of the premier basketball programs in the country," Thamel wrote. "Both the Pac-12 and the Big East have been engaged with Gonzaga, according to sources, but the extent of those conversations is uncertain."

The last two NCAA men's basketball champions are Big 12 schools in Baylor and Kansas, respectively, so adding Gonzaga to that mix would be a major boost to what is already a strength of the conference. The Bulldogs have been the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament in four of the past five years.

However, there's a chance Gonzaga would not be welcomed with open arms to the Big 12. West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins told reporters he "would think it would be a tremendous awakening for Gonzaga" to join the conference because "you don't get to make your own schedule in the Big 12."

The Texas Longhorns scored one of the biggest recruiting wins available in the 2023 cycle when forward Ron Holland joined their class.

Paul Biancardi of ESPN reported the news Saturday:

Holland, who checks in at 6'8" and 195 pounds, is a 5-star prospect and the No. 10 overall player, No. 3 power forward and No. 1 player from the state of Texas in the 2023 class, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

Teams such as Kentucky, Memphis, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, UCLA, Texas and Oregon were all interested at one point during the process, so the Longhorns certainly had plenty of competition along the way.

The first thing that jumps out about Holland's game is his versatility.

He can defend multiple positions with his length and athleticism, get out in transition, and score while attacking the basket. Yet Brandon Jenkins of 247Sports noted "his ability to crash the glass may be his biggest strength."

Holland has also made a point of improving his jump shot during his recruitment.

"I worked with my AAU coach and my high school coach on it all year," he said, per Rob Cassidy of Rivals. "I was just working on catch and shoot and shooting off the dribble—all of it. I worked on that and ball-handling."

If Holland can consistently hit from the outside while battling for boards and defending across the frontcourt and wing, he will establish an immediate role for Texas during his freshman season.

Gonzaga is reportedly considering a move to the Big 12 amid the continued realignment in college sports, per ESPN's Pete Thamel. But West Virginia men's basketball coach Bob Huggins thinks the Bulldogs might be surprised by the strength of its new conference.

"I would think it would be a tremendous awakening for Gonzaga [to join the Big 12]," he told reporters Thursday.

Gonzaga has completely dominated the West Coast Conference since Mark Few took over as the head coach in the 1999-00 season, either winning or sharing the regular-season title in every season but 1999-00 and 2011-12. They've also won 18 conference tournament titles in that time.

But the Bulldogs have also fared well in the NCAA tournament, reaching two championship games, though a national title has eluded them.

And they've acquitted themselves well in non-conference games, with a 39-12 record against schools from the Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, Big East, ACC and SEC dating back to 2017. A Sweet 16 loss to Arkansas was Gonzaga's last result against such a school.

So when they've danced with the big boys, they've generally fared well.

But there's little doubt the Big-12 would be a major step up in competition compared to the WCC. The past two national champions, Baylor and Kansas, hail from the Big-12. Five teams from the conference—Nos. 5 Kansas and Baylor, No. 12 Texas, No. 14 TCU and No. 25 Texas Tech—are all opening the season as top-25 teams in the Associated Press poll.

While Texas and Oklahoma are departing for the SEC in 2025, Houston—which starts the year ranked No. 3—will join the conference next season.

"To get in this league and play who we play day-after-day, I would think it would be a tremendous awakening," Huggins said of Gonzaga's potential defection to the conference. "You don't get to make your own schedule in the Big 12."