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 TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * To ...

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 United States census, 2020 census, increasing from 34,122 in 2010. Hobbs is the principal city of the Hobbs, New Mexico micropolitan statistical area ...

— and 1982 graduate of Hobbs High School — Benford played under coach

Ralph Tasker Ralph Edwin Tasker (July 15, 1919 - July 19, 1999) was a high school boys' basketball coach. He coached for over 50 years, including 49 years at Hobbs High School in Hobbs, New Mexico. He won twelve New Mexico Boys' State Basketball Championships: ...

. Benford is married with four children. He attended

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

, 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 also included schools from Oklaho ...

(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 The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

in the fourth round of the

1986 NBA draft The 1986 NBA draft was held on June 17, 1986. Overview and aftermath This draft holds the record for the most players (out of prospects chosen) who later debuted in the NBA, with 66. Drug and health issues involving drafted players There were ...

before playing in the

Dutch Basketball League The Dutch Basketball League (DBL), formerly the Eredivisie, was the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands, run by the Federatie Eredivisie Basketball (FEB). Since 2021, the league has been replaced by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT Le ...

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 NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). North Tex ...

. 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 (also known as the Fighting Tigers) are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiat ...

following the suspension of head coach

Will Wade Frank Williams Wade (born November 26, 1982) is an American college basketball coach who serves as the head men's basketball coach at NC State Wolfpack men's basketball, North Carolina State University. He previously coached at Chattanooga Mocs ...

. He coached LSU for the last regular season game of the 2018–19 season, 2019 SEC men's basketball tournament and

2019 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2019 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2018–19 ...

. 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.

Assistant coaching career

Benford's first coaching experience was as an assistant with the

New Mexico Lobos The New Mexico Lobos are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque. The university participates in the NCAA Division I in the Mountain West Conference (MW) since 1999 ...

. Later he served as an assistant with the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

and the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

before joining the

Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball The Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball team (formerly the Marquette Hilltoppers and Marquette Warriors) represents Marquette University in NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I college basketball and competes in the Big East Conference. The tea ...

team in 2008 as an assistant coach under

Buzz Williams Brent Langdon "Buzz" Williams (born September 1, 1972) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at the University of Maryland. He previously served as head coach at Texas A&M from 2019 to 2025, Virginia Tech from 2014 to 2019, Marq ...

. 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. On April 14, 2019, he returned to his duties as assistant coach at LSU under Will Wade. On April 24, 2019, Benford accepted an assistant coaching position at

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

Head coaching record

References

External links