Was Beard's roster elite in year one? Who talked him into recruiting Rice, because it wasn't Beard that identified him.
He had to build an entire roster from scratch due to shitty recruiting his boss did. The only two HS kids on this roster Beard brought in and stayed more than 1 season were Anamewke and Mitchell, and everyone considered Mitchell a one and done when he signed with Texas. You aren't building continued success having to replace your roster every year, and yet Terry brought in a roster that by every metric was top 20-25.
I am sorry you disagreed with a portal class that was in top 10 and he also brought in two HS kids after the Holland and Johnson bailed (hint, they would have also bailed on Beard). Was the roster perfect, nope. Likely returning players include Weaver and Shedrick. That is already a better start than what was waiting after the Miami loss. He's bringing in the #9 freshmen class and has 3-4 other guys returning. It's much easier to target portal needs when they are specific as opposed to an entire rotation and sometimes the portal players don't work out, Look at KU with Morris and Dickinson, both were complete busts for different reasons.