Head Coach: Jamy Bechler
Jamy Bechler begins his first year as head coach of the Bryan women’s basketball. He was named to the position on May 22, 2007.
Coach Bechler succeeds Matt Bollant, who recently was named head women’s basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Coach Bechler comes to Bryan with five years’ experience as a head women’s coach, including the 2006-07 season when he coached the Tennessee Temple University women’s team. He spent four years as head coach at LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas before serving a year as assistant coach at Newberry College, an NCAA Divison II program in South Carolina. He has been an assistant coach at Kent State and Anderson University in his 12 years of coaching.
While at LeTourneau, he was chosen the NCCAA Central Region and the American Southwest Conference East Division Coach of the Year in 2003.
Dr. Zensen said Coach Bechler’s experience made him stand out from other candidates as the college began looking to fill the position. “He has the ability to handle the technical and tactical aspects of the game, and he brings a great concern for the spiritual welfare of his players,” Dr. Zensen said. “That’s critical here at Bryan.”
When taking over at Bryan, Bechler said he is excited about the opportunity to coach at “a great program. The fact that Matt went to a Division I school speaks well of the program. I’m impressed with everything I know about Bryan, the basketball program, the academics, the spiritual emphasis. I like the family atmosphere. This is everything I dreamed of when I started my coaching career.”
As for the future of the program and the current players, he said "I am really impressed with the returning players and recruits. I liked them when I coached against them, when I was scouting them and I look forward to coaching them.
“I’m not here to fix the program but to keep the train rolling. I’m going to try to do my best to compete for another championship.”
In addition to his college experience, Bechler in 2005 led a group of Texas high school all-stars to the championship of the King Kamehameha Basketball Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. His team was undefeated in that tournament. In 2006, he also led a collection of high school all-stars representing nine different states to the National Championship in Columbus, Ohio at the USA Junior Nationals International Sports Festival.
He is a graduate of Hiram College in Ohio, where he lettered in basketball, football and track. He earned his Master’s degree in physical education at Kent State. He and his wife, Tabitha, live in Dayton, TN.
Contact Coach Bechler at 423-775-7248 or Jamy.Bechler@Bryan.edu