Texas A&M basketball is looking to move quickly in their pursuit of a replacement after Buzz Williams headed out the door to Maryland. In that vein, the Aggies— given the constant talk about a possible departure by Williams— seemed to have identified their top target even before things became official.
It didn't take long to see that said top target was Chris Beard, current head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. Beard, who took Texas Tech to within seconds of a national championship a few years back, would have been a real coup to steal away from Oxford— though not one that would have come without controversy.
Ole Miss coach Chris Beard will be one of the primary candidates for the Texas A&M opening, source told @TheFieldOf68.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 2, 2025
Will be interesting to see whether Beard would rather stay in Oxford or head to College Station.
The smoke was strong around this possibility this morning, with a lot of confidence emanating from A&M's side dating back to last night. However, reports are now starting to surface that are causing that confidence to falter.
Reports emerging that Chris Beard has turned down Texas A&M basketball
After a hard charge from the Aggies, On3 is reporting that Chris Beard has elected to stay in Oxford. This decision comes on the heels of a reported bump in NIL commitment by the Rebels.
NEW: Chris Beard is staying at Ole Miss despite being a top candidate for the Texas A&M head coach opening, @PeteNakos_ reports.https://t.co/oqCLL7OLUH pic.twitter.com/KzOVWmChZT
— On3 (@On3sports) April 2, 2025
With things having been so public on the A&M side regarding their confidence in landing this plane, this is a bit of an embarrassing moment. This is a guy that would have been tough to unseat, of course, but the level of assuredness that A&M people had about this led a lot of fans to believe that this was a done deal.
If these reports are true, the Aggies now have to figure out a plan B here. Whether that's moving towards Grant McCasland up at Texas Tech, looking over to High Point, or going to the assistant ranks— or elsewhere— it looks like the coaching search just got extended in Aggieland.
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