Rebels' Basketball Season Ends vs. Tennessee in SEC Tournament, Coaching Search Next Focus

The Rebels fell to the Volunteers on Thursday, and now, the real waiting game begins.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Ole Miss Rebels saw their season come to a close against the Tennessee Volunteers in Thursday's action of the SEC Tournament, falling 70-55.

Three Rebels reached double-digit point totals on the afternoon, led by Myles Burns with 14 points and Jaemyn Brakefield and Matthew Murrell with 12 apiece in the loss. As a team, the Rebels shot 38 percent from the field and 35 percent from three.

With the loss, the Rebels fall to 12-21 on the year and 3-15 in SEC play, but the storyline surrounding the team does not center on Thursday's loss. Instead, it focuses on the potential hiring of Chris Beard as the next leader of the Ole Miss program.

Following the firing of then-coach Kermit Davis in February, athletics director Keith Carter announced a "nationwide search" for his replacement, and that search has led him to former Texas Longhorns basketball coach Chris Beard.

Beard has an outstanding overall record in his head coaching career (237-98), but he was fired from Texas after domestic violence charges were brought against the coach in December of last year.

The charges, however, were later dropped by the Travis County district attorney.

As far as coaching stops are concerned, Beard has plenty of impressive marks to add to his resume.

His first collegiate head coaching job came with Fort Scott Community College in Kansas beginning in 1999. He also had a stop in the JUCO ranks with Seminole State Junior College in Oklahoma.

From 2001-11, Beard served as the associate head coach for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and he was later head coach in Lubbock from 2016-21. He then transitioned to Austin where he was the coach of the Longhorns until earlier this year.

In the NCAA Tournament, Beard has posted a 10-4 record as a coach, and he led Texas Tech to a Final Four appearance in 2019.

The Red Raiders would go on to lose in the national championship game to the Virginia Cavaliers.

Stay tuned to The Grove Report for updates as the coaching search unfolds.

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You can follow John Macon on Twitter at @JMakeGillespie.

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