Ole Miss’ Chris Beard delivers another breakthrough at a place unaccustomed to March Madness stage

Chris Beard proved at Texas Tech that he can build a national contender at a school without much of an NCAA Tournament history.

Now he’s doing the same at Mississippi.

Ole Miss (24-11) is in the Sweet 16 for just the second time ever — and first time since 2001 — after defeating North Carolina and trouncing Iowa State in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The sixth-seeded Rebels face No. 2 seed Michigan State (30-6) in a South Region semifinal Friday in Atlanta.

Beard believes Ole Miss can advance beyond this stage, something it’s never accomplished before. He has been inspiring his players by having them watch a documentary on Jim Valvano, the coach who led N.C. State on a Cinderella run to the 1983 national title.

“It’s not arrogance,” Beard said. “It’s absolute belief. If I didn’t believe this team was capable of continuing to win games in this tournament, then I shouldn’t be the coach at Ole Miss.”

Beard has that belief because he’s done it before.

He arrived at Texas Tech in 2016 to take over a program that hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since reaching a regional final in 2005. Texas Tech went 18-14 in Beard’s debut season, reached a regional final in his second season and took Virginia to overtime in the NCAA Tournament final in his third year on the job.

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So he was accustomed to second-season breakthroughs well before he came to Ole Miss. Beard believes a coach’s debut season is about building a culture and the second season involves defending that culture.

“Year 2, not that it’s any easier, but you can spend the 24 hours that you have each day and not have to spend as much in terms of building things, because in some ways they’re built,” Beard said. “And now you can defend it and refine it and work at it.”

Coming back after his arrest

Ole Miss took a chance on Beard after his abrupt firing at Texas, which had hired him away from Texas Tech in 2021.

Beard was arrested in December 2022 on a felony domestic violence charge after Randi Trew, his fiancée at the time, told officers that he choked her from behind, bit her and hit her when the two got into an argument. Trew later gave a public statement saying she denied telling police that Beard choked her and that she’d never intended for him to be arrested or prosecuted.

The charge against Beard was dropped in February 2023. Ole Miss hired Beard less than two months after Texas fired him.

“Like we would with any hire of this magnitude, we were extremely thorough in our review of Coach Beard,” athletic director Keith Carter said at the time. “That evaluation included delving into reports that led to his departure from Texas. Those are allegations that we take very seriously. It was important that we gain an understanding of what took place. What we learned is that initial reports were not an accurate reflection of what happened.”

After going 20-12 in its first season under Beard, Ole Miss took a leap forward by adding transfers who already had proved themselves at other power-conference programs.

Sean Pedulla had averaged at least 15 points each of the last two seasons at Virginia Tech. Dre Davis had started a combined 77 games at Louisville and Seton Hall. Malik Dia had played one season at Vanderbilt before spending his sophomore year at Belmont.

Pedulla scored 20 points in each of Ole Miss’ first two NCAA Tournament games. Davis had 15 points against North Carolina. Dia had 18 points and eight rebounds against Iowa State.

“He just brings out the best in every single person, whether you’re a player, coach, manager or GA (graduate assistant),” Pedulla said. “He wants to raise your own expectations. The way he’s changed me the most this year is he’s made me realize that I can be better than what I thought I could be.”

Getting his players to match his competitiveness

Beard says he realizes how competitive he is and wants players who care as much about winning as he does.

“We’re just always trying to find that guy that has a real love of the game,” Beard said. “And really not even love of the game — addiction to the game. If you like something, you got no chance to play at this level. If you love it, OK. You might love your favorite TV show, too. When you tell me you’re addicted to basketball, there can’t be a day that goes by that you don’t get some work in. There’s not a minute that goes by that you’re not thinking about your last game, next game, next workout, your craft.”

Beard’s players have adopted this all-consuming approach well enough to take Ole Miss into the second week of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in more than two decades.

They agree that Beard is demanding but say they enjoy playing for him because he enables them to play at a level they’d never reached before. Guard Jaylen Murray says the Rebels attempt to adopt Beard’s personality every time they take the floor.

“I’d say he’s crazy,” Murray said, “but crazy in a good way.”

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