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 (appro ...

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 * Coac ...

. During his career, he was able to play both the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

positions. He earned an

All-EuroLeague The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...

Second Team selection in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, 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, United States. The population was 9,067 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ogden– Clearfield, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. Historical events Washington Terrace had its fo ...

, where he played high school basketball.

College career

After high school, Beard played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has b ...

, with the

Boise State Broncos The Boise State Broncos are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Boise State University, located in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Mount ...

, from 1989 to 1993. He was named the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

'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. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

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

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (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 particular competition, or ...

, 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 Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna 103, commonly known as Fortitudo Bologna and currently known as Fortitudo Flats Service Bologna for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball club based in Bologna, Italy and currently plays in the second division. H ...

, 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 Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

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, 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 United States Census ...

Awards and achievements

Clubs

Ülkerspor

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

Champion: (1994–95)

Joventut Badalona Club Joventut Badalona, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional basketball club based in Badalona, Catalonia, Spain, playing in the Liga ACB and the EuroCup. Known to their fans as ''La Penya'' (in English, ''The Club''), it is one of only two team ...

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

Žalgiris Kaunas

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

Baltic League The Baltic League (officially known as the Triobet Baltic League) was a Baltic men's football club tournament held four times between the top club sides from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Launched in 2007 inspired by the now defunct Scandinavi ...

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 All-Star Game showcase of the sport of European professional club basketball. It was organized by FIBA Europe. Commonly considered to be the European equivalent of the NBA All-Star Game, the FIBA EuroStars Game featu ...

: (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

in rebounding: (2000–01) *5×

EuroLeague MVP of the Round The EuroLeague MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the Round, previously known as the EuroLeague MVP of the Week, is an EuroLeague awards, award of European professional club basketball system, Europe's premier level basketball league, the EuroLeague, t ...

: (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) *

MVP: (2004–05) *Baltic League Final Four MVP: (2004–05) *

Second Team: (2004–05) *2× Led the EuroLeague in rebounding: (2004–05, 2006–07) *Led the Lithuanian League in rebounding: (2004–05) *2×

All-Star: (2006, 2007) *

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 music duo that 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 Eurovision ...

, 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