The coach behind the clipboard that helped Houston's offense hum to NCAA win

Taylor Eldridge, The Wichita Eagle on Mar 20, 2025

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WICHITA, Kan. — When most eyes inside Intrust Bank Arena were fixated on the basketball court, where the No. 1-seeded Houston Cougars looked every bit the part of a national championship contender on Thursday, something fascinating was happening on the UH bench.

Every time Houston was on defense, assistant coach K.C. Beard, seated near the edge of the team’s bench, would furiously erase on a large whiteboard and scribble words and numbers that only made sense to the Cougars on the court.

It was like clockwork: Beard would signal in a play, the players glanced at the board on the way down the floor, then almost always executed its message for points in Houston’s 78-40 Midwest Regional victory over 16th-seeded Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

“I think for anybody who coaches, you love to see the players execute and see it result in points,” Beard said. “It’s like in football when you call a play that goes for a touchdown. It’s the same kind of feeling.”

It’s easier to call touchdown plays for a team such as Houston with a trio of talented scoring guards like L.J. Cryer, Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan.

But even the region’s No. 1 seed needs direction.

“It keeps us organized in the game,” Cryer said. “Sometimes things can get a little hectic, especially when we’re playing fast, we can maybe lose a little discipline. So he keeps us disciplined and keeps us on track offensively.”

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson has given Beard autonomy on the board, but within a framework that the two work closely to devise before each game to come up with between 10 to 20 preferred actions.

Sampson always has the trump card, but Beard — in the 11 years he has worked for Sampson at Houston — has developed a good feel for what the head coach wants.

“It’s not really about the plays, it’s about the players,” Sampson said. “I go over it with him in practice and give him a list of things I want to run for (individual players). It helps that he’s been with me for 11 years. He knows what we do. That’s why one of these days K.C. is going to be an awesome head coach.”

Houston overwhelmed SIU-Edwardsville with its talent Thursday, but it was still impressive to watch the Cougars pick apart the defense with Beard’s play-calls from the bench.

He scribbled “Zoom power wan” on the board; then, within seconds, Cryer was feeding J’wan Roberts — the “wan” in the play — for an easy bucket. Next up was a “Loop Z Go E” call that ended with an Uzan step-back triple.

Then it was a “Thru mash” play that again freed Uzan for an open floater that he canned in the paint.

“We started doing it a couple of years agin when we started playing in bigger arenas and the crowd got loud,” Beard said. “It’s hard sometimes for the guys to hear anything from the bench, so (the board) is something direct and it’s clear communication. Nobody has to yell anything. The guys can just look at the board to get organized.”

Using a whiteboard to communicate plays is not uncommon for teams playing in loud environments. But what makes Houston different is the person writing on the board.

Beard is a gifted offensive mind. He’s able to quickly analyze what’s happening on the floor — how defenses are reacting to certain actions and how they are guarding certain plays. And then he has the instincts to dial up the play that can capitalize.

“K.C. has an awesome feel for it and he prepares himself, regardless of whether or not it’s his scout or not,” Houston assistant coach Kellen Sampson said. “He thinks offense even when we’re on defense. So for a staff that is as defensive-minded and oriented as we are, he provides an awesome balance for us. This is Year 11 for him with us, so there’s a lot of trust there.”

Beard isn’t a former player and didn’t come from a basketball coaching tree. He’s had to grind his way just to have a shot and Sampson has empowered him to grow as an assistant coach.

Tougher tests are ahead as Houston advances deeper in the NCAA Tournament. But for Thursday, at least, Beard could soak in the achievement of how far he has come.

“I’m certainly grateful,” he said. “It’s not every day that a Hall of Fame coach gives you that kind of responsibility. So it’s just a humbling experience.”