NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Former Belmont head coach Rick Byrd has been selected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2021. The honor was announced by the National Association of Basketball Coaches Sunday.
Byrd will be enshrined next November in Kansas City at the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Celebration in conjunction with Hall of Fame weekend, which includes the annual Hall of Fame Classic. He’ll be joined in the Class of 2021 bythe late Len Bias (Maryland), David Greenwood (UCLA), Hersey Hawkins (Bradley), Jim Jackson (Ohio State), Antawn Jamison (North Carolina), Paul Pierce (Kansas) and coach Tom Penders.
Byrd successfully led Belmont from NAIA power through a transition into Division I, and ranks 12th all-time among Division I head coaches with 805 victories. He led Belmont to 10 regular season conference championships, seven conference tournament titles and eight NCAA Tournament appearances. His victories account for 62.4 percent of Belmont’s all-time win total.
In 33 seasons at the school, Byrd never saw any significant off the court issues with his players. He also graduated every single student-athlete that completed his eligibility.
This is the third Hall of Fame honor for Byrd, who was also inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019 and is a Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame inductee.
Byrd joined Steve Layman on Sunday Sports Central to talk about his Hall of Fame selection. You can watch the full interview in the media player above.
