Background
Beard was born in Hardinsburg, Kentucky.
Beard was born in Hardinsburg, Kentucky.
University of Kentucky.
Taken in the second round of the 1949 National Basketball Association draft, Beard played two seasons with the Indianapolis Olympians and averaged 15.9 points and 4.4 assists per game. Following the 1951 season, Beard and teammate Alex Groza were banned from the National Basketball Association for life by then-commissioner Maurice Podoloff after the players admitted to point shaving during their college careers. Beard died at his Louisville, Kentucky home in 2007.
He was a member of Adolph Rupp"s "Fabulous Five" University of Kentucky basketball team, with Alex Groza, Wallace Jones, Cliff Barker, and Kenny Rollins.