Coach Beard was asked about his new contract at today's media session, and he had a few things to say:
"First of all, I'm humbled and just so appreciative of the commitment (from) Dr. Schovanec and Kirby (Hocutt), putting trust in our coaching staff and me personally to lead the program. We're just getting started. We have a vision for this thing to build it to where we can compete for championships on a yearly basis, where a good year isn't getting into the tournament. A good year is getting a good seed where you can make a run. This is our vision, and it's exciting for me personally that I share that with the leadership of this school, especially with Tony (Hernandez) and Kirby, who I work with on a day to day basis."
"I'm also really appreciative of everyone who came before us. I think the great opportunities that we find ourselves in today with college basketball from a player point of view, from a coaching standpoint and point of view, and the incomes and things like this with the tournament, I think you've got to always remember and thank the people that came before us. All the players that have played at this school when they didn't have all the luxuries of a private charter and facilities like this, those are the ones that created the game that we all benefit from today. It's certainly with coaching. It's humbling when I think about my mentors, where Coach Knight started at West Point and Indiana, and then the life we live today because of basketball, it's because of those people at our school. Gerald Myers and James Dickey and Coach Knight, and all these people that came before us, they create the opportunities that we all have today as players and coaches, so on a day like today I always reflect on where I came from and all the people that helped pave the road."
"I really wasn't a part of the (contract) process until lately, and I was, again, humbled and very appreciative. To me it just talks about how we're all on the same page going forward as we build the program. This year, we've done some great things, but we're going to try to have an even better month of March. Certainly, as we build the program, we want to continue to try to elevate it each and every year."
"First of all, I'm humbled and just so appreciative of the commitment (from) Dr. Schovanec and Kirby (Hocutt), putting trust in our coaching staff and me personally to lead the program. We're just getting started. We have a vision for this thing to build it to where we can compete for championships on a yearly basis, where a good year isn't getting into the tournament. A good year is getting a good seed where you can make a run. This is our vision, and it's exciting for me personally that I share that with the leadership of this school, especially with Tony (Hernandez) and Kirby, who I work with on a day to day basis."
"I'm also really appreciative of everyone who came before us. I think the great opportunities that we find ourselves in today with college basketball from a player point of view, from a coaching standpoint and point of view, and the incomes and things like this with the tournament, I think you've got to always remember and thank the people that came before us. All the players that have played at this school when they didn't have all the luxuries of a private charter and facilities like this, those are the ones that created the game that we all benefit from today. It's certainly with coaching. It's humbling when I think about my mentors, where Coach Knight started at West Point and Indiana, and then the life we live today because of basketball, it's because of those people at our school. Gerald Myers and James Dickey and Coach Knight, and all these people that came before us, they create the opportunities that we all have today as players and coaches, so on a day like today I always reflect on where I came from and all the people that helped pave the road."
"I really wasn't a part of the (contract) process until lately, and I was, again, humbled and very appreciative. To me it just talks about how we're all on the same page going forward as we build the program. This year, we've done some great things, but we're going to try to have an even better month of March. Certainly, as we build the program, we want to continue to try to elevate it each and every year."
