"Alfred "Butch" Beard, Jr." is a former National Basketball Association player and coach. He was the head coach at Morgan State University until he stepped down in March 2006. Butch Beard played college basketball at the University of Louisville. Beard played high school basketball at Breckinridge County High School where, as a junior, he led the Bearcats to the 1964 state championship game losing to a Wes Unseld-led Louisville Seneca team. The following year, Beard led the Bearcats back to the title game winning the 1965 state championship. Additionally, Beard was named the 1965 Kentucky Mr. Basketball.

Beard was selected by the Dallas Chaparrals in the 1969 ABA Draft and by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 1969 NBA Draft.

Beard played nine seasons (1969–1970; 1971–1979) with five teams: the Atlanta Hawks, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Seattle SuperSonics, the Golden State Warriors, and the New York Knicks. He scored 5,622 career points and represented Cleveland in the 1972 NBA All-Star Game. He later served as head coach of the New Jersey Nets from 1994-1996. He was also color analyst for New York Knicks games on MSG Network during the 1980s.

More Butch Beard on Wikipedia.

If I can get leadership from him on and off the floor then the rest will take care of itself. I'm looking forward for him to have a big year next year.

177

I'm leaving Morgan State to pursue other opportunities and wish Morgan State and its basketball program success in the future.

175

They were able to win the game because we didn't match their intensity in the second half. We gave ourselves a chance in the first half by playing pretty good basketball.

153

Whether or not Billy got what he wanted out of this game, only he knows. For us, there was a lot of good because we had some issues.

143

A point guard is like your heart pumping in your body. When your heart is in trouble the rest of your body is in trouble. It was very hard for us to do things I thought we were capable of doing.

131

I would like to thank Morgan State University for the opportunity to coach the men's basketball team for the last five years. In addition, I would like to thank all the past and present student athletes for their hard work and dedication.

103

Sometimes you get what you can find.

62