Tanoka Dwight Beard (born September 29, 1971) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. During his career, he was able to play both the power forward and center positions. He earned an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, while leading the competition in rebounds, with an average of 10.6 per game. He won various European national domestic league championships and national domestic cup titles, in three different European countries.

High school

Beard attended Bonneville High School, in

Washington Terrace, Utah Washington Terrace, is a city in Weber County, Utah, Weber County, Utah, United States. The population was 9,067 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is part of the Ogden, Utah, Ogden–Clearfield, Utah, Clearfield, Utah Ogden-C ...

, where he played high school basketball.

College career

After high school, Beard played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

, with the Boise State Broncos, from 1989 to 1993. He was named the Big Sky Conference's Freshman of the Year in 1990. He was named to the Big Sky Conference's First Team in 1991, 1992, and 1993. He was also named the MVP of the Big Sky Conference Tournament in 1993. Over his four year college career, Beard averaged 17.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. In his senior season, he averaged 21.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Beard was named to the school's all-time basketball team in 2007.

Professional career

Beard was twice named the

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

's ( Spain's top-tier level league)

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

, in 1999 and 2002. He also holds the EuroLeague record, for the highest Performance Index Rating (PIR), in a single game, with 63. He achieved the record while he was a member of Žalgiris Kaunas, in a EuroLeague 2003–04 season game against Fortitudo Bologna, on 22 January 2004. In that game, Beard recorded 35 points, 19 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, in 38 minutes of playing time.

Coaching career

After he retired from playing pro club basketball, Beard began working as a

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

in 2012.Ben Lomond hires former pro player, Bonneville alum Tanoka Beard as boys hoops coach.
/ref> In 2013, he opened up a basketball academy youth club called Ogden Pride Youth Basketball Club, in

Ogden, Utah Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...

Awards and achievements

Clubs

Ülkerspor

* Turkish Super League Champion: (1994–95)

Joventut Badalona

* Spanish King's Cup Winner: (1996–97)

Žalgiris Kaunas

*4× Lithuanian League Champion: (2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07) * Baltic League Champion: (2004–05) * Lithuanian Federation Cup Winner: (2006–07)

Personal

*5× Spanish League All-Star: (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001) *13× Spanish League Player of the Week: (1996–02) *10× Spanish League Player of the Month: (1997–02) *2×

FIBA EuroStar FIBA EuroStars was an annual event, organized by FIBA Europe, as a showcase basketball game, from the 1996–97 season, until the 1999–2000 season. Commonly considered as the European equivalent of the NBA All-Star Game, the FIBA EuroStars game ...

: (1998–99, 1999–00) *Led the Spanish League in rebounding: (1998–99, 1999–00, 2001–02) *2× Spanish League MVP: (1998–99, 2001–02) *Led the Turkish Super League in rebounding: (2000–01) *5× EuroLeague MVP of the Round: (2003–07) *5× Lithuanian League All-Star: (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) * PIR record in a single EuroLeague game: (2004) *2× Lithuanian All-Star Game MVP: (2003–04, 2004–05) *4× Lithuanian League MVP: (2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07) * Lithuanian League Finals MVP: (2003–04, 2006–07) * Baltic League MVP: (2004–05) *Baltic League Final Four MVP: (2004–05) * All-EuroLeague Second Team: (2004–05) *2× Led the EuroLeague in rebounding: (2004–05, 2006–07) *Led the Lithuanian League in rebounding: (2004–05) *2× Baltic League All-Star: (2006, 2007) * Baltic League All Star Game MVP: (2007)

Musical career

During 2005–06 season with Žalgiris, Beard recorded a track and a music video, with duo

Linas and Simona Linas and Simona was a duo, which represented Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. With 26 points they placed 16th in the semifinal and could not participate in the final. However, they befriended Ruslana, the winner of the Eurovision 2 ...

, named "I Love U". This song was released on the album with the same name, on 22 July 2005, and in two weeks, it reached number 1 on the Lithuanian M-1 radio station. The lead singer of the duo, Linas Adomaitis, produced Beard's album, which has never been released.

EuroLeague career statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris Kaunas , 3 , , 2 , , 30.0 , , .629 , , .000 , , .875 , , 13.3 , , 1.7 , , 1.7 , , .3 , , 17.0 , , 27.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris Kaunas , 20 , , 10 , , 26.0 , , .561 , , .000 , , .696 , , 7.6 , , .7 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , 14.6 , , 17.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris Kaunas , 20 , , 20 , , 32.5 , , .578 , , .333 , , .771 , , style="background:#cfecec;", 10.6 , , 1.3 , , 1.5 , , .4 , , 18.0 , , 21.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris Kaunas , 14 , , 13 , , 27.8 , , .429 , , .130 , , .781 , , 8.1 , , 2.1 , , .9 , , .3 , , 13.6 , , 15.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris Kaunas , 14 , , 14 , , 31.0 , , .547 , , .214 , , .667 , , style="background:#cfecec;", 9.9 , , 1.6 , , .9 , , .6 , , 14.5 , , 18.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris Kaunas , 2 , , 0 , , 19.7 , , .308 , , .000 , , .500 , , 4.0 , , .5 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , 5.5 , , 4.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 73 , , 59 , , 29.1 , , .536 , , .188 , , .730 , , 9.1 , , 1.3 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , 15.2 , , 18.5