Belmont’s Byrd Heading to the Hall of Fame

Editor: The following is part of a press release from belmontbruins.com.

(Kansas City, MO) – Former Belmont University men’s basketball head coach Rick Byrd has been selected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2021, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced Sunday.

Byrd will join the late Len Bias (Maryland), David Greenwood (UCLA), Hersey Hawkins (Bradley), Jim Jackson (Ohio State), Antawn Jamison (North Carolina), Paul Pierce (Kansas) and coaching legend Tom Penders in the Class of 2021.

The honorees will be enshrined in November 2021 in Kansas City at the 2021 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Celebration. The event is part of Kansas City’s Hall of Fame Weekend, which also includes the annual Hall of Fame Classic tournament.

A 2019 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction candidate and Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame inductee, this ranks among the highest honors in Byrd’s illustrious coaching career

Byrd, who systematically led Belmont to national prominence in both NCAA Division I and NAIA, ranks 12^th all-time among NCAA Division I head coaches with 805 career victories.

The Knoxville, Tennessee native led Belmont to eight NCAA Tournament appearances (2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019) and 17 conference championships (10 regular season, seven tournament) in his final 14 years, national top 25 poll votes eight of his last nine years and notable victories over the likes of North Carolina, UCLA, Marquette, Cincinnati, Alabama, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Stanford, Butler and Temple, among others.

A 14-time district or conference coach of the year, Byrd’s career conference winning percentage of .797 (447-114) ranks second in NCAA Division I, behind only Mark Few of Gonzaga.

Under Byrd’s leadership, the Bruin program was marked by sustained excellence, one of only nine NCAA Division I programs to win 19 or more games each of his final 14 seasons (BYU, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Louisville, Michigan State, North Carolina and San Diego State).

But of even greater significance to Byrd, Belmont established an unparalleled standard of academic achievement among NCAA Division I programs. Since 2001, Belmont leads the nation in Academic All-America selections (17, including Dylan Windler in 2019) and is the only program to rank among the nation’s best every year since inception of the Academic Progress Rate (APR).

Furthermore, in the NCAA Division I era, every Belmont player who completed eligibility under Byrd’s watch earned his degree, with only two scholarship student-athletes transferring out over his final 15 years.

Byrd received the 2012 NCAA Bob Frederick award for his lifelong commitment to sportsmanship, ethical conduct and fair play.

Byrd says he is humbled by the honor.

“The best I can do is say I am overwhelmed, humbled, and feel a great sense of gratitude to receive this ultimate recognition for those in our profession. Coaching basketball was all I ever wanted to do, and coaching college basketball was all I did for 42 years. It was my life-long work to coach young men, and to be honored by my peers for doing something I loved is more than I could have dared to hope for. The game of basketball has given me far more than I could ever give back.”