On Wednesday, May 6, 2020, UA Cossatot hosted a virtual Zoom press conference to introduce Robert Byrd as the college's newly hired men's and women's basketball coach. It was also announced during the conference that Coach Byrd would also be taking on the role of Athletic Director for UA Cossatot.
UA Cossatot Chancellor, Dr. Steve Cole, kicked off the conference by welcoming everyone and then introducing Coach Byrd. Dr. Cole said, "We are very pleased and excited to have Coach Byrd take on the role of Head Basketball Coach and Athletic Director for the college. We were looking for a talented player's coach, and that is what we found in Coach Byrd."
Byrd recently completed his second year as an Assistant Coach for the University of St. Thomas Men's Basketball team in Houston, Texas. For the 2019-2020 season, the Celts finished 24-2 overall and 16-2 in the SCAC to win the conference regular-season championship. The Celts were ineligible for postseason play due to their transition from NAIA to NCAA. Nevertheless, the Celts won their first-round game in the USCAA D1 National Tournament. After their first game, the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19. The Celts were the #2 seed and were ranked second in the USCAA D1 National Poll.
During the 2018-2019 season, the Celts finished the season 23-11 overall and 11-7 in RRAC play. This earned them the #4 seed in the RRAC tournament. The Celts ultimately won the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament Championship by first knocking off #2 nationally ranked LSUA in the semifinals and beating #15 ranked LSUS in the championship game. They received a #22 ranking in the final NAIA D1 national poll and a #6 seed in the NAIA D1 National Tournament.
Coach Byrd joined the Celts after serving one year as an assistant and six years as Head Men's Basketball Coach at Lone Star College-CyFair. During his time at LSC-CyFair, Robert accumulated over 20 wins in each of his six seasons as Head Coach and guided over 30 players to 4-year universities on athletic and academic scholarships.
Coach Byrd participated in the NBPA Top 100 camp in 2005 as a camper and also worked with the NBPA Top 100 camp from 2009-2016 as a Camp Counselor and Assistant Equipment Manager. After graduating from the University of Houston with a BA in Psychology, Coach Byrd also pursued a Master's degree in Educational Leadership from the University of North Texas.
Coach Byrd stated during the conference, "I want to thank God, my family, and Dr. Cole for this opportunity. I am excited about athletics at UA Cossatot, and I am looking forward to getting started. I am excited about building relationships. It is important to me to help the players at UA Cossatot on and off the court in basketball, in academics, and in life.”
Coach Byrd is set to begin work at UA Cossatot this summer. Colts and Lady Colt's basketball tryouts will be announced at a later date. For more information, Coach Byrd can be contacted at rbyrd@cccua.edu.
