Bob Knight: UNLV coach Chris Beard will win over ‘experts in Las Vegas’

In his only season as a Division I head coach, Chris Beard won 30 games, including one in the NCAA Tournament. But he has much more on his resume.

Several years ago, he won an influential friend in Bob Knight, who has an answer for any cynics who question Beard’s credentials to be the UNLV basketball coach.

“What’s important? Can the guy coach? Did he win in that one year?” said Knight, who has not been granting interviews but agreed to speak with the Review-Journal about Beard. “Do you want the guy who goes for 15 years and didn’t win?”

Beard accepted the job Sunday and has met with the Rebels’ players. His contract has not been approved, and his official introduction at a news conference is on hold until next week — a process Knight aptly termed “strange.” But Beard will be the coach, and Knight threw out a one-liner while saying UNLV fans would be wise to support him.

“You have a lot of experts in Las Vegas,” Knight said, “and they would probably have some hesitation if you hired Jesus Christ and Red Auerbach at the same time.”

Knight, a Hall of Fame coach who won 902 games at Army, Indiana and Texas Tech, crossed paths with Beard in March 2001. Knight, just getting started as the Red Raiders’ coach, set out on a recruiting trip through Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. He ran into Beard, the head coach at Seminole State College in Oklahoma.

“He was really interested in the game of basketball, and he was willing to work hard at it,” Knight said. “I thought he was the kind of kid who would do a good job with us, and he did.”

Beard was hired as an assistant. Knight revived the Texas Tech program before retiring as coach in February 2008. His son, Pat, took over and promoted Beard to associate head coach.

Pat Knight, who lives in Las Vegas as an NBA scout for the Indiana Pacers, raves about Beard’s fiery personality. When asked about Beard’s demeanor, Bob Knight criticized the question and said a coach showing emotion has no relevance to winning.

“Chris will do a very good job there because he has a good approach to the game of basketball,” Bob Knight said. “He will do a good job with his approach to players.”

Beard recently completed his only season as a Division I head coach. He guided Arkansas-Little Rock to a 30-5 record, the Sun Belt Conference championship and a first-round NCAA Tournament win. He turned around a Trojans team that finished 13-18 the previous season.

Beard, 43, has a diverse coaching background. Before meeting Knight, he was an assistant at Texas, Incarnate Word, Abilene Christian and North Texas. In 1999-2000, he was the head coach at Fort Scott Community College in Kansas, and in 2000-2001, he posted a 25-6 record at Seminole State College.

After leaving Texas Tech, Beard was head coach of the ABA’s South Carolina Warriors in 2011-12 and posted a 31-2 record. He also spent brief, successful stints as a head coach at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, and Angelo State in San Angelo, Texas.

Beard has won at every stop. And he wins by emphasizing the defensive end of the floor.

“You either play defense and win or you don’t and lose,” Knight said. “Chris will do a good job on the defensive end, and what I always tell my players is the team that wins is going to be the team that makes fewer mistakes, and that’s what offensive play is all about. Chris will do a very good job with those things.”

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247