By PAUL GOTHAM
The year was 2011. Jack Leasure was a couple seasons removed from his playing career at Coastal Carolina and hadn’t yet taken over the head coaching responsibilities at McQuaid Jesuit High School. Chris Beard had just finished a decade-long stint as an assistant at Texas Tech under Bobby Knight and then under Pat Knight.
Looking to further their careers, the two did that with the South Carolina Warriors (not to be confused or associated with the squad consisting of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, to name a few) of the ABA (not to be confused or associated with the league that gave the world Dr. J and George Gervin).
No, this was a fledgling league of missed payrolls and lopsided scores.
From those humble surroundings, Leasure caught a glimpse of what basketball fans across the country are now coming to understand.
“It was a crazy situation,” Leasure said by phone Friday morning. “The team was really good, just loaded with good players and guys that ended up moving on to play overseas.
“The league was a joke and I don’t think anybody on the team had played in the league before, but everybody wanted to be on the team because the practices were so good. He (Beard) was such a good coach. Everybody really respected him and wanted to play hard for him. He demanded a lot out of you.”
It comes as no surprise that Beard’s Warriors played stingy defense and ran an up-tempo offense. They pounded one opponent by the score of 188-100. By season’s end Beard and the players had had enough and left the team and league behind.
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“We were getting paid $200 a game, and it ran out after like six games or something into the season,” the sixth-year McQuaid Jesuit head coach recalled. “Part of it too is that we would get a discount at the Bojangles right by where we practiced.
“After a while he started joking about that, ‘you’re just playing for free Bojangles, now.’ That was kind of the theme of the group.”
Beard took the head coaching job at Division III McMurry State the following season. Then he moved on to Angelo State and Arkansas-Little Rock before returning to Texas Tech in 2016 – this time as the head coach.
Saturday night, Beard and the Red Raiders will take the court in Minneapolis – the site of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Final Four.
“The players and the people who were involved with the immediate team felt important because he made practices so good and everybody got better,” Leasure said. “At some point, you start to think about where he’s heading. I couldn’t believe the change in four years from where he was.”
Texas Tech leads the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency (metric that estimates the amount of points allowed per 100 possessions) at 84.0 per KenPom. Their field-goal percentage defense of 36.9 is second in the country while their 15.7 turnovers forced is top 25.
Beard’s defense has held its last three opponents (Buffalo, Michigan and Gonzaga) to a combined 70 points under their season average.
“He always did a good job demanding toughness especially on the defensive end,” Leasure stated. “I was talking with somebody this week about what do they do so special defensively. It’s nothing special. There are no secrets to anything. It’s just about working really hard, putting in the work and playing defense with a lot of energy. That’s what they do as a group. They don’t give up on plays…ever. With us, it was the same way. He just demanded it.”
The Red Raiders beat Buffalo 78-58, Michigan 63-44 and Gonzaga 75-69.
“I couldn’t believe the score they held Michigan to,” Leasure noted. “For Gonzaga, as prolific as they were. To hold them to that was impressive.”
Texas Tech (30-6) is led by Big 12 Player of the Year Jarrett Culver averaging 18.9 points and nearly seven rebounds per game. Matt Mooney scores 11 per game while Davide Moretti connects 46.3 percent (69-149) of the time from 3-point land.
The Red Raiders will take on Michigan State (32-6). An 8:39 PM tip time is scheduled from U.S. Bank Stadium.
I met Chris Beard when Jack played for him.Great guy,great enthusiasm,loves coaching