May 3, 2006
Tennessee state senate honors Belmont Bruins
The Senate of the One Hundred Fourth General Assembly of the State of Tennessee honored the Belmont University Bruins Men’s Basketball team for their outstanding 2005-2006 season today. The team members and coaches, along with Athletic Director Mike Strickland and Belmont President Robert Fisher, were invited to the Senate floor as Senator Douglas Henry presented a resolution to recognize them on their completion of an extraordinary season. The resolution passed by a unanimous vote, and the Bruins received a standing ovation.
The resolution commended Belmont for defeating archrival Lipscomb University to win the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament, thus becoming the first Bruin program in school history to advance to the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins received a 15th seed and dominated most of the first half of their game against UCLA. They also honored Coach Rick Byrd, who marked his 20th season with the Bruins this year and has a record of 493 wins against only 284 losses.
The team was further recognized for their successes off the court. The Bruins boast a cumulative team grade point average of 3.164, and 12 team members are on the academic All-Conference team, including Justin Hare, who was named to the 2006 Academic All-District Men’s Basketball team with a 3.81 GPA. These players represent the overall high standards of Belmont University, which has won the Atlantic Sun Conference’s All-Academic Trophy for four consecutive years. The players were also commended for giving their time and talents to the community, working with church ministries and traveling on mission trips to Brazil, the Ukraine and Venezuela.
- A 14 minute video of the event is available for download in Windows Media and Quicktime formats:
- Windows Media Video - 54Mb
- Quicktime Movie - 55Mb
- For more stories from the MARCH MADNESS Archive, click here.
- Office University Marketing and Communications
Greg Pillon: 615.460.6645
Belmont University
1900 Belmont Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37212
615.460.6000
About Belmont University
Named one of the top two “Schools to Watch” in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Belmont University is a fast-growing community of more than 5,400 students who come from every state and 25 countries. Committed to being a leader among teaching universities, Belmont brings together the best of liberal arts and professional education in a Christian community of learning and service. The university’s purpose is to help students explore their passions and develop their talents to meet the world’s needs. With more than 75 areas of study, 20 master’s programs and three doctoral degrees, there is no limit to the ways Belmont University can expand an individual's horizon. For more information, visit www.belmont.edu.
For more information visit www.belmont.edu
