by Russell Vannozzi | Apr 10, 2019 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander is changing addresses on Belmont Boulevard. In an email sent to students Wednesday morning, Lipscomb president Dr. Randy Lowry III announced that Alexander will accept the open Belmont coaching job. Alexander will be formally introduced as the Bruins’ head coach Thursday at 9 a.m. CT in a welcome event at Curb Event Center. Lipscomb associate head coach Roger Idstrom will serve as the interim while Lipscomb conducts a national search for its next coach. Alexander previously spent 20 seasons at Belmont, including four as a player and 16 as an assistant under the legendary Rick Byrd. Alexander has spent the last eight seasons as a head coach, including the last six at Lipscomb. “It’s an honor and a great privilege to have the opportunity to return to Belmont,” Alexander said in a Belmont release. “I’m grateful that Dr. [Bob] Fisher and Scott Corley believe I’m the right person to lead this incredibly successful program. The experiences gained over the last eight years have shaped and impacted me greatly, and I return to Belmont far better positioned to lead.” Byrd spent 33 years as Belmont’s head coach. He won 805 career games, which ranks 12th all-time among NCAA Division I coaches. Alexander said he is excited to follow the legacy his mentor left with the Bruins. “This will always be Coach Byrd’s program in my mind,” Alexander continued. “So nothing will motivate me more than to make him proud and honor his legacy. We have a history of sustained excellence at Belmont, and everything is in place to build upon recent successes and make new history. We’re...
by Russell Vannozzi | Apr 6, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Coach Casey Alexander and his Lipscomb team capped their season with an 81-66 loss to Texas in Thursday’s NIT championship game in New York. Naturally, the questions about Alexander’s future have already begun. He’s an obvious candidate for the open Belmont job after spending 20 total seasons with the Bruins – four as a player and 16 as a coach. But Alexander has been noncommittal in his public statements about the coaching vacancy so far. “Obviously there’s a lot of people talking about that,” he said at Lipscomb’s welcome home ceremony Friday afternoon. “I’m glad I’m the Lipscomb coach. We’ll deal with that when it happens, if it happens.” Alexander’s mentor and longtime Belmont head coach Rick Byrd announced his retirement Monday morning after 33 years on the Bruin sidelines. Alexander has routinely credited Byrd for impacting his life both on and off the court. “Belmont is important to me,” Alexander told 104.5 The Zone’s 3HL show Wednesday. “I spent 20 years there, I graduated from there, my wife graduated from there. I’ve got a history of 20 teams of players that were important to me. Hardly anybody’s more important to me than Coach Byrd is.” Before entering the coaching ranks, Alexander was a star player in his own right. He was a three-sport standout at Brentwood Academy and won two state championships. He later starred for Belmont’s basketball team (1992-95) and is among the school’s all-time leaders in assists and steals. Alexander was inducted into the Belmont Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005. Two of Alexander’s current staff members – associate head coach Roger Idstrom and assistant coach...
by Russell Vannozzi | Apr 1, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Belmont basketball coach Rick Byrd is retiring, and it’s not an April Fools’ joke. The longtime Bruin head coach announced the news in a statement posted on the school’s athletics website Monday. “For the past 33 years, it has been my privilege to work with, and for, a remarkable community of men and women at Belmont University,” Byrd said. “Throughout my tenure as men’s basketball coach, our program has received great support from Belmont’s administration, faculty, staff and students. For this, I am forever grateful. “Personally, I have been the beneficiary of a very supportive family that I could count on every single day, a loyal circle of friends who consistently offered encouragement, and a terrific fan base that has embraced our program and our players for over three decades. Most importantly, it has been an honor to coach the young men that have brought credit to Belmont University, not only by how they played the game, but how they represented our university all over our country.” Byrd won his first NCAA tournament game March 19 with a 81-70 victory over Temple in the First Four. The Bruins then lost a 79-77 heartbreaker to Maryland in the second round two days later. The Knoxville native won 805 career games, which ranks 12th all-time among Division I coaches. He served as head coach at Lincoln Memorial and Maryville College before spending 33 seasons as the Belmont skipper. He transitioned the program from NAIA to NCAA Division I in the late 1990s and helped it rise to national prominence. Under Byrd’s leadership, the Bruins made eight NCAA tournament appearances in the last 14 years....
by Cory Woodroof | May 18, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
Coach Don Meyer’s legacy is the way he spent his life. “I think that’s the reason why that we’re put here on the Earth is to try to help folks and to show that servant leadership and show Christ, and that was everything that Coach [Meyer] was about,” said one of his former players and coaches, Freed-Hardeman head coach Jason Shelton. Meyer, long-time coach of the Bisons and a college basketball icon, died today at age 69. Those who learned from and admired Coach Meyer spent time reflecting on how his life, not just his coaching, affected them. Meyer ends a long battle with cancer, stemming from a 2008 diagnosis that came after a serious car accident that claimed one of his legs. He was at home in Aberdeen, South Dakota, receiving hospice care at the time of his passing. A celebration of life for Meyer will be held in Allen Arena honoring Meyer’s life at 2 p.m. on June 1. A similar service will be held in South Dakota on Saturday at Northern State University. At an Athlete Leadership Chapel held in October 2012, Meyer spoke to a crowd of Bisons and Lady Bisons about a myriad of important subjects – character being one of them. “Character is really important,” Meyer said during his lesson. “Character is important in everything you do.” Meyer lived a life of iridescent character – the kind of character that Jesus taught people to have. The kind of character that showed on the court, in the locker room, at practice and at basketball camps. The kind of character that made him a beloved coach, mentor...
by Sydney Poe | Mar 7, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
Spring sports are in full spring while winter sports are wrapping up. Here’s what you may have missed this week in Nashville sports. Lipscomb Softball: Lady Bisons softball continues their strong start, this week behind senior pitcher Ashley Anderson who pitched 12 shutout innings during the team’s sweep of University of North Florida. She received her first Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Week award for her shutout performance. Lipscomb followed up that sweep with another, this time over Ohio. Their record sits at 17-3 overall, and their next game is a double header against Florida Gulf Coast University on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. Lipscomb Baseball: Bisons baseball is currently on a three game winning streak after wins over Connecticut and Western Kentucky. Junior shortstop Grant Massey received the Atlantic Sun Baseball Player of the Week after he had three RBI’s and seven walks in the Bisons three wins. Lipscomb has a three game series against Oakland this weekend, including a double header on Saturday at Dugan Field, starting at 12 p.m. Lipscomb Men’s Basketball: The Bisons basketball season ended in a double overtime thriller at the first level of the A-Sun Men’s Basketball Championship against ETSU on Tuesday. Despite having a 16 point lead in the second half, the Bisons would fall one point short in double overtime. Junior forward Malcolm Smith led Lipscomb with 24 points and scored his 1000th point in the loss. The Bisons finished with a 15-15 record, the first time they’ve been at .500 since the 2010-2011 season. Lipscomb Women’s Basketball: Despite a struggling start, the Lady Bisons will appear in the A-Sun Women’s Basketball Championship with a win over ETSU Thursday night. Redshirt sophomore forward...
