Getty Head coach Rick Byrd of the Belmont Bruins reacts in the first half while taking on the Arizona Wildcats.
Belmont hit the national scene in 2008, when the No. 15 seed Bruins nearly topped No. 2 Duke in the NCAA Tournament first round. They led in the final 15 seconds and just missed a buzzer-beater to fall just short of shocking the Blue Devils.
Since then, head coach Rick Byrd’s crew has annually been a popular Cinderella pick during March Madness, winning 4 Ohio Valley Conference Tournaments to clinch automatic bids. His Bruins haven’t advanced past the Round of 64, but they get another chance this week.
Lacing up our dancing shoes!!!! 8 NCAA appearances in the last 14 years! See you all in Dayton on Tuesday! #MarchMadness #NCAATournament #itsbruintime
Belmont (26-5, 16-2 OVC) earned a No. 11 seed and a First Four appearance versus the Temple Owls (23-9, 13-5 AAC) Tuesday night in Dayton (9:10 PM ET, Tru TV). It presents a golden opportunity for Byrd. Not only could he get his first-ever NCAA Tournament win, but he could tie Hall of Fame coach Lou Henson for No. 14 on the all-time wins list.
Before exploring Tuesday’s matchup, let’s take a look at the coach who guided Belmont over the last 23 years.
Belmont Coach Rick Byrd: Bio, Wife & Family
Born in Knoxville (Tenn.) in 1953, Byrd’s father is former Tennessee Volunteer basketball beat writer Ben Byrd. According to Sports and Entertainment Nashville, Rick desired to focus on playing and coaching the game rather than covering it.
“I want to make a game out of everything, and if you’re in sportswriting, you tell the tale of the game and you write your opinion, but you don’t necessarily have a winner and a loser every time out,” Rick says now.
So he tried playing. After one year of riding the pine at a Florida junior college, he quit hoops and transferred home to Tennessee. In a stroke of good fortune, UT started a junior varsity squad his senior season and asked him to join.
“(It was) probably the best thing I ever did, because it got me back in the game. Trying to get a (coaching) job as a normal student without being on a team is very difficult,” Byrd says.
He eventually earned an assistant job at Maryville (Tenn.), which turned into a head gig only 2 years later. That led to another assistant position at Tennessee Tech by 1980. It’s there that he met his wife Cheryl, who earned her bachelors in Business Administration (according to her LinkedIn profile).
Both left for Harragota (Tenn.) in 1983, as Rick took charge of the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters. He took them to the NAIA Playoffs for 3 straight seasons before taking over Belmont in 1986.
“I thought Belmont had great potential as a school and had not enjoyed a lot of success in basketball, and I felt like that was a great combination,” Byrd said to S&E Nashville. “A good school with a lot of potential in a great city, and a basketball program that hadn’t won a lot of games.”
By 1996, he was transitioning them from NAIA to Division 1. A decade later, they broke into March Madness after a seizing both the Atlantic Sun regular-season and tournament titles. In total, Byrd is 712-346 as head man in Nashville.
He and Cheryl are avid tennis fans, as she is an amateur national champion on the USTA in the 55-and-over division. They have 2 daughters, Andrea and Megan, and a stepson, Robert Duke.
Preview and Prediction for Belmont vs. Temple
The Bruins have one of the best offenses in the country (No. 20 in efficiency according to Ken Pomeroy). They shoot the rock incredibly well (No. 3 nationally in effective field goal percentage, 37 percent from deep), assist on over 61 percent of their field goals and don’t turn the ball over (No. 18 nationally).
This disciplined and productive unit is led by the 1-2 punch of guard Dylan Windler and center Nick Muszynski. Windler tallies 21.4 points per game (43 percent from 3), as well as 10.4 boards a contest. He’s 6-foot-8, and complements well with point guard Kevin McLain (16.4 ppg) in the backcourt.
Muszynski is a big-bodied freshman at 6-foot-11, 235 pounds. He chips in 14.9 points per game, shoots 61.4 percent inside the arc while stretching defenses with 38 percent shooting from behind it.
Temple’s defense isn’t particularly strong (No. 90 nationally per Pomeroy), and ranks No. 204 in effective field goal percentage on offense. Basically, Belmont can take advantage of a so-so defense, and the Owls may not be able to keep up.
Expect Byrd and company to get that elusive first NCAA Tournament win. Next up would be No. 6 seed Maryland in the East Regional.