Purdue Basketball: Coach Byrd

D.J. Byrd is back in the old gold and black. This time as a coach. D.J. Byrd will be a grad assistant for Matt Painter this coming basketball season.

Ryne Smith, a few years ago, was a grad assistant as well, this helped him get a couple of high school head coaching gigs at Clinton Prairie, Anderson and Benton Central, eventually getting Coach Owens’ staff at Miami of Ohio.

D.J. played for Coach Painter from 2009 to 2013. He was part of a teams during his freshman, sophomore and junior years that were very successful. Then, his senior year, the team went 16-18. This bodes well for coaching, as he has seen it from both sides of the ball.

D.J.’s role as a coach is still unknown, but generally, grad assistants to the dirty work of things the head coach does not really want to do, nor the assistants. It is all a part of climbing that coaching ladder.

His most recent stop was at Franklin Community High School as the head JV basketball coach. D.J. is also the owner and operator of RIMROC Basketball, where D.J. would work with the youth on their basketball skills.

D.J. is an excellent addition to the staff for this upcoming year. I am looking forward to having him on the sidelines again. Boiler Up!