University of Texas head men’s basketball coach Chris Beard was arrested and charged with assault on a family member early Monday, Austin police have confirmed.
Austin police spokesman Brandon Jones said Beard is accused of choking a person at a home in the Tarrytown neighborhood in West Austin. Officers responded to a 911 “disturbance-urgent” call at 2:07 a.m. Monday.
Beard was booked into jail at 4:18 a.m. Monday, according to the Travis County sheriff’s office jail records. Beard faces a third-degree felony charge of assault on a family/household member-impede breath circulation.
Bail was set at $10,000, which Beard posted. He was released in the afternoon.
UT released a brief statement on the arrest in the morning, saying “the university is aware of the situation regarding Chris Beard. We are continuing to gather information and monitoring the legal process.”
Who is Chris Beard? What we know about the Texas men’s basketball coach and his arrest
Beard’s attorney, Perry Minton, told the American-Statesman at 10:30 a.m., “Coach Beard is 100% innocent of these charges. He should never have been arrested. The complainant wants him released immediately and all charges dismissed. It is truly inconceivable.”
Beard, 49, is in his second year at Texas. Before replacing Shaka Smart in 2021, he spent five seasons at Texas Tech and led the Red Raiders to the 2019 NCAA championship game. Beard, who has also coached at Fort Scott Community College, Seminole State College, McMurry University, Angelo State and Arkansas-Little Rock, is a 1995 Texas graduate.
When he was hired at Texas in 2021, Beard received a seven-year contract with an annual salary of $5 million.
A clause in the contract allows the university to terminate or suspend Beard with cause if “Any conduct (a) that the University administration reasonably determines is clearly unbecoming to a Head Coach and reflects poorly on the University, the Program, or The University of Texas System; or (b) resulting in a criminal charge being brought against Head Coach involving a felony, or any crime involving theft, dishonesty, or moral turpitude.”
This is a standard clause is UT coaching contracts.
Beard’s No. 7-ranked Longhorns (7-1) are scheduled to host Rice Monday night at Moody Center. Texas last played on Saturday, an 88-43 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Texas has not yet announced who will coach the team against the Owls.
Associate head coach Rodney Terry has previously been a head coach at UTEP (2018-21) and Fresno State (2011-18). He first coached at Texas from 2002-11 on former UT coach Rick Barnes’ staff. Beard’s staff also includes assistant coaches Brandon Chappell and Bob Donewald Jr. And Chris Ogden, who serves as the team’s managing director, was the head coach at UT-Arlington from 2018-21.
This is a developing story; check back for updates
More:Texas coach Chris Beard made all the right offseason moves, but now come the actual games
View more on Youtube UT Men's Head Basketball Coach Chris Beard arrested for alleged domestic violence | KVUE
Beard faces a third-degree felony charge for “assault on a family/household member-impede breath circulation”. KVUE’s Tony Plohetski explains the case.
STORY: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/university-of-texas/ut-chris-beard-arrested-for-alleged-domestic-violence/269-17384d1d-a5f7-495a-85c6-619f9782c30b
Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/kvuetv?sub_confirmation=1
KVUE is Austin’s ABC affiliate station and has been delivering local news for Central Texans since 1971. Today it is owned by TEGNA, Inc., which reaches approximately one-third of all television households in America. http://www.kvue.com
