Keenan Evans was already Texas Tech's starting point guard and had been to an NCAA Tournament when Chris Beard became his coach two years ago.
With each win now extending his college career, Evans is an All-Big 12 senior guard going to the Sweet 16.
"What I'm most appreciative of Keenan is he basically trusted me before he had to. He basically took me at my word," Beard said. "He trusted me from day one, and I asked him to do a lot of things that he had never done before in his career. ... He's just continued to be a guy that works at his craft."
Evans remembers the first time he sat down in Beard's office to talk after Tubby Smith left for Memphis. It was only a few weeks after the Red Raiders' 10-point loss to Butler in their first NCAA game in nine seasons.
Beard told Evans that he wanted to keep the core group together and bring in some help.
"I just believed in his process, believed that he wanted to win at this level," Evans said. "He believed in me, so I believed in him, and he gave me an opportunity. And he's still doing that."
A big reason the Red Raiders (26-9) are still playing this season is because of their playmaking 6-foot-3 guard.
In their NCAA opener, Evans scored 19 of his 23 points after halftime when they overcame an eight-point deficit to beat Stephen F. Austin by 10. Evans then scored 22 points in a 69-66 win over Florida. He made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2 1/2 minutes left, and his only assist came on another alley-oop dunk to Zhaire Smith with 29 seconds left.
"He has courage to make those plays in those moments. He wants the ball late," Beard said. "He's earned the right to be in those moments throughout his career, the ups and downs."
Texas Tech plays an East Region semifinal game Friday night against Purdue (30-6) in Boston.
The Boilermakers lost their first-round game to Arkansas-Little Rock two years ago. The Trojans then were coached by Beard, who won 30 games there in his only season as a Division I head coach before returning to Lubbock, where he was an assistant coach from 2001-11.
