Chris Beard explains how Texas is carrying 'unite the family' motto into 2022-2023

Beyond winning basketball games, Texas hoops coach Chris Beard had one primary goal during his first season in Austin: Unite the Family. This was Beard’s motto for the program once joining it last spring. And after one year manning the job, he thinks Texas Basketball made incredible strides in uniting its expansive family.

At a recent press conference he revealed that motto as his goal for the program, and how the Longhorns took steps to make it a reality throughout their program.

“Yeah I think two-fold. One, that’s our whole objective year one: Unite the family. There was nothing more important. Student attendance, winning some games on the court, getting some guys graduated. But that ‘unite the family’ was real. We’re still in the early stages of it. We’re one year in. LaMarcus Aldridge was here yesterday, I’ve got some great texts this week from former players. Not only in my era, but also Coach Barnes’ and Shaka’s been great. And so, it’s important. It’s a players program.”

This kind of connection between eras past and present is exactly what Beard had hoped for when he originally took the job.

“When you get a job, you visualize how it could be on all cylinders. And when you think about the Texas job, first thing that kind of came to mind, is the power of the brand and the power of all our former players. Can we get everybody back under one umbrella or whatever? So that’s the ‘unite the family.'”

The UT coach then went on to praise the various accomplishments of Texas Basketball alums. Noting that turning the kids that come through the program into successful men of the future is what the whole operation is about.

“So it’s important. Nothing’s more important. When those former players come back, it means the world to us. And I think all of our eyes naturally kind of go to the NBA greats, but it’s not just about that either. It’s about the guys out there. We got guys coaching, running businesses, playing professional ball in Europe. We got all sorts of former players, the success stories are off the charts. So as we continue to build the program, to me, that’s the secret. If we can get Texas united, then I think, you know, we can compete at the highest level.”

Texas Basketball is on the rise in all aspects of the program under Chris Beard.