Texas coach Beard arrested on felony family violence charge

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas men’s basketball coach Chris Beard was arrested early Monday on a felony family violence charge, according to Travis County Jail records.

The Travis County Sheriff’s Office said the 49-year-old Beard was arrested by Austin police and booked at 4:18 a.m. on a charge of assault on a family or household member in which their breath was impeded, or choking, in common terms.

The charge is a third-degree felony in Texas, with a possible punishment of two to 10 years in prison. The jail records showed Beard had not yet posted bond as of Monday morning and did not indicate when he would be making an initial court appearance.

The records also did not identify an attorney for Beard.

Beard took the UNLV job in 2016 but left after 19 days for the Texas Tech job.

“The university is aware of the situation regarding Chris Beard. We are continuing to gather information and monitoring the legal process,” the school said in a statement.

The second-ranked Longhorns (7-1) play Rice on Monday night.

Beard is in his second season with the Longhorns. Before that, he led Texas Tech to the 2019 NCAA Tournament championship game.