5-ON-5 WITH BELMONT'S RICK BYRD                                                                                                                             >>> CollegeInsider.com

DAVE MAGARITY: Coach, it looks like you have a terrific new arena. Talk about that.

RICK BYRD: We are really fortunate to have a first class facility in the Curb Event Center that certainly will benefit our basketball program but the Student Life Center side of the facility really impacts all of our students in a positive way. From a recruiting perspective, this was a huge last piece of the puzzle in our move to Division I. It should allow us to attract the kind of players that we hope can make us a mid-major program of some significance.

MAGARITY: Former Tennessee Coach Ray Mears gave you your first opportunity as a DI assistant coach. Talk about those early days in Knoxville.

BYRD: As a boy, I attended Coach Mears' basketball camps every summer and, because my Dad was a sportswriter in Knoxville, got to sit on the edge of the court and watched great SEC basketball in the early to mid-sixties. Coaching was all I really considered and Coach Mears gave me the opportunity to get started by first working his camps and then becoming a student assistant coach. Probably the thing that stayed with me longest about Coach Mears was that he really emphasized that his players and his staff look and act first class from their dress on the road to the quality of the locker rooms. Of course, at that time, he thought orange blazers looked first class and I'm not sure any of us would go for that now.

MAGARITY: Who are some other coaches that you have learned a lot from, even if it has been from afar?

BYRD: As a college student, I worked one week of John Wooden's Basketball Camp in Thousand Oaks. I think all of us who are from that era appreciated so much of his approach to the game. He continues to be an amazing man. Since I became a head coach at 25, most of my learning came from those I coached against in the NAIA. Cumberland's Randy Vernon, Taylor's Paul Patterson, and certainly Don Meyer, the coach at our greatest rival, Lipscomb, made me a better coach because I was going to lose to them everytime unless I got better.

MAGARITY: Currently there are only three division I coaches that also serve as Athletic Director (Hugh Durham, Dave Loos and Fang Mitchell). What did you learn from your stint as A.D. at Belmont?

BYRD: When I was AD, we had just a handful of sports and my job was basically to keep our budget in line. As a matter of fact, the first game I coached at Belmont I had to pop the popcorn in the concession stand for the women's game because we did not have enough help. Now there is so much more with compliance, marketing, fund-raising, etc. that I would not consider trying to do both. Those guys are doing a great job but have to have a lot of help from their athletic and basketball staffs.

MAGARITY: Give me your take on the Atlantic Sun Conference this season.

BYRD: Our conference has already had some good wins over schools like Tulsa, Ohio, San Diego State, Austin Peay, and Air Force. But we, like most mid-majors, all play some guarantee games that makes our overall record less than spectacular. The pre-season favorites Georgia State, Mercer, and Troy State have all had some good wins and probably deserve the favorite status. But, as we all know, things rarely shake out just as predicted and I am sure someone unexpected will contend for the championship, just as Mercer did a year ago.

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