Longtime Belmont Head Coach Listed Among Nation’s Best
Belmont men’s basketball head coach Rick Byrd has been named one of the Top 10 ‘Under the Radar Coaches’ in America by Athlon Sports in their 2009-10 College Basketball Preview Edition.
Byrd, who ranks 11th among all active NCAA Division-I head coaches in career victories with 561, is set to embark upon his 24th season roaming the Belmont sidelines. The Knoxville, Tenn. native was named 2008 Atlantic Sun Conference Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award after directing the Bruins to an unprecedented third consecutive conference title and NCAA Tournament appearance.
Byrd has also garnered national acclaim for leading a program characterized by high academic achievement and sportsmanship. Since 2001, Belmont’s eight ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans represent the most for any program in the country. Further, six of the last eight Atlantic Sun Conference Male Student-Athlete of the Year Award recipients have been Belmont Basketball players. Click here for more on this story.