*Butch Beard named Wizards assistant coach*
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WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Butch Beard, who has 19 seasons of NBA
coaching experience and briefly held the head job at nearby
Howard University, today was named an le, joins the staff of Gar Heard,
who will embark on his first season as Wizards coach in
November. 

"I'm pleased we were able to add Butch to the Wizards coaching
staff," said Heard.  "Butch is an established coach with a great
reputation in the NBA.  He brings a lot of basketball experience
and knowledge, having played the game for many years and as a
coach in the NBA." 

Beard was the coach of the New Jersey Nets for two seasons
(1994-96) and served as an assistant for the Nets (1988-1990),
New York Knicks (1979-82) and Dallas Mavericks (1996-1998).  He
spent four seasons at Howard and guided the Bison to the 1992
NCAA Tournament. 

The 52-year-old Beard was most recently the coach of the St.
Louis Swarm of the International League. 

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