Tony L. Benford (born March 22, 1964) is an American basketball coach who is an assistant coach of the
TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball
The TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball team represents Texas Christian University, located in Fort Worth, Texas, in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. Since 2016, the Horned Frogs have been led by TCU Lettermen's Hall of Fame member, ...
team.
Biography
A native of
Hobbs, New Mexico
Hobbs is a city in Lea County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 40,508 at the 2020 census, increasing from 34,122 in 2010.
Hobbs is the principal city of the Hobbs, New Mexico micropolitan statistical area, which includes all of L ...
— and 1982 graduate of
Hobbs High School
Hobbs High School (HHS) is located in Hobbs, New Mexico, United States. It had a student population of about 1900 students as of 2017.
In addition to Hobbs it serves Monument, Nadine, and North Hobbs.
Ralph Tasker coached basketball at HHS ...
— Benford played under coach
Ralph Tasker. Benford is married with four children. He attended
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...
, where he played on the
Red Raiders basketball team for head coach
Gerald Myers
Gerald Myers (born August 5, 1936) is an American former college basketball coach. He was the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders men's basketball team and the Houston Baptist Huskies men's basketball team and athletic director at Texas Tec ...
. While Benford played for Texas Tech, the
1984–85 Red Raiders team won both the
Southwest Conference
The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...
(SWC) regular season title and
SWC Classic. The
1985–86 Red Raiders team won the SWC Classic, and Benford was named "Most Outstanding Player" in the conference tournament. Benford was drafted by the
Boston Celtics in the fourth round of the
1986 NBA draft before playing in the
Dutch Basketball League.
Coaching career
Head coaching career
North Texas
On April 24, 2012, Benford was named men's basketball head coach of the
North Texas Mean Green
North Texas Mean Green (formerly North Texas Eagles) represents the University of North Texas (UNT) in intercollegiate athletics. The teams compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). North Texas competed in th ...
. During his tenure at North Texas, he coached the team to a 62–95 overall record and 30–60 conference record. He was relieved of those duties March 5, 2017.
LSU
On March 8, 2019, Benford was named interim head coach of the
LSU Tigers
The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...
following the suspension of head coach
Will Wade.
[2019 SEC men's basketball tournament
The 2019 Southeastern Conference men's basketball tournament was a postseason men's basketball tournament for the Southeastern Conference at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, from March 13–17, 2019. Auburn defeated Tennessee, 84–64, ...]
. As interim head coach, Benford coached LSU to an overall 3–2 record. He went 1–0 in the regular season, 0–1 in the SEC Tournament and 2–1 in the NCAA Division I Tournament earning a berth in the Sweet Sixteen. On April 14, 2019, Will Wade was re-instated as head coach of LSU.
. Later he served as an assistant with the
. Benford was promoted to associate head coach at Marquette for the 2011–12 season.
In 2017, Benford became an assistant coach under Will Wade at LSU for the 2017–18 season. Benford was named interim head coach at LSU towards the end of the 2018–19 season.
.