Rick Byrd Named TSWA Men's College Basketball Coach of the Year
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University men's basketball head coach Rick Byrd has been named Men's College Basketball Coach of the Year by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA), the organization announced this week.
The award is the latest in a string of postseason honors for the longtime Belmont head coach.
Byrd, who directed the Bruins to a 30-5 record and the program's fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last six years, was named Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year, NABC District 3 Coach of the Year and Atlantic Sun Conference Coach of the Year by the league office and CollegeInsider.com. He was also a finalist for the 2011 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year award, the 2011 Clair Bee National Coach of the Year award, and the 2011 Skip Prosser Man of the Year award.
The 2010-11 Belmont Bruins led the Atlantic Sun Conference in 13 statistical categories, led the nation in scoring margin, and tied for the national lead with 13 road victories. The first program in the nation to tally 30 victories this season, Belmont became just the 14th non-BCS program since 1996-97 to record 30 victories in a single season.
The Bruins also earned national poll votes for nine consecutive weeks at the end of the regular season and finished the season ranked No. 6 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25 Poll.
With the recent retirements of Gary Williams and Homer Drew, Byrd ranks 10th among active NCAA Division I head coaches in career victories with 610. On Jan. 5 of this year, Byrd joined Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Jim Calhoun (Connecticut), and Dave Bike (Sacred Heart) as one of only five head coaches in all of college basketball with 500 or more victories at their current school.
This is the second TSWA Men's College Basketball Coach of the Year honor for Byrd; he also received the award in 1999.
Other 2011 TSWA award recipients included Vanderbilt guard John Jenkins, Tennessee women's basketball forward Shekinna Stricklen and women's basketball head coaches Mark Campbell of Union and Kevin McMillan of UT-Martin.
