Former Belmont Coach Rick Byrd Named To NIT Committee

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Rick Byrd. Photo: Courtesy of Belmont Athletics

Former Belmont University men’s basketball head coach Rick Byrd has been named to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) committee.

Byrd was the Bruins head coach for 33 years where he accumulated with 805 career victories and ranks 13th all-time among NCAA Division I head coaches. He was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame this past November and received the 2022 John R. Wooden Award Legends of Coaching honor by the Los Angeles Athletic Club in April.

A current Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction candidate and Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Byrd systematically led Belmont to national prominence in both NCAA Division I and NAIA. In 1996, Belmont made the unprecedented decision to jump from NAIA to NCAA Division, which Byrd led to eventual success.

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, and national top 25 poll votes in eight of his last nine years.

Moreover, for programs with at least six decades of history, Byrd retired first among NCAA Division I head coaches when ranked by percentage of schools’ all-time wins, accounting for a staggering 62.4 percent of Belmont’s total victories. 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 one of only nine NCAA Division I programs to win 19 or more games each of his final 14 seasons.

Steven Boero
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