BALTIMORE, Md. – Alfred “Butch” Beard, head coach of the Morgan State University men’s basketball team, announced today that he is resigning his position effective immediately.
“I would like to thank Morgan State University for the opportunity to coach the men’s basketball team for the last five years,” said Beard. “In addition, I would like to thank all the past and present student athletes for their hard work and dedication.”
Beard has been head coach at Morgan State since 2001. This season, he led the Bears to a 4-26 record, including 4-14 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Morgan State entered the MEAC Tournament as the No. 11 seed and was defeated in First Round action by No. 6 Hampton, who would go on to win the MEAC Championship Title.
“I am leaving Morgan State to pursue other opportunities and wish Morgan State and its basketball program success in the future.”
“I want to thank Coach Beard for his service to Morgan State University. He and his teams provided a number of exciting moments for our fans in the past five years,” said Director of Athletics Floyd Kerr. “Coach Beard has put our program on solid ground, and for that, we are most appreciative. Coach Beard is a quality individual, and I wish him and his family well in their future endeavors.
"We will begin an immediate search for a replacement," said Kerr.
Since taking over at Morgan State in 2001, Beard has a 39-105 record as head coach of the Bears, and he has an overall record of 79-184 in his seven years as a collegiate head coach. Beard earned MEAC Coach of the Year honors for his teams’ success in 2002-03, and in 1991-92 as head coach of Howard University after guiding the Bison to both the regular season and postseason titles and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Beard led his Bears to a 10-1 home record and 9 consecutive wins at Hill Field House and finished with a 14-16 record during the 2004-05 season. It was Morgan State's best record since 1998-99 when Head Coach Chris Fuller led the Bears to a 14-14 record.
