Bethany College Hires Men’s Basketball Coach

Bethany alum Dan O’Dowd is coming back to Lindsborg. O’Dowd was introduced Thursday morning at a press conference as the next men’s basketball coach at Bethany College.

O’Dowd boasts 24 years of coaching experience at the Division-I level, and leaves North Texas to return to Bethany. A 1986 alum, O’Dowd ran track and played basketball at Bethany from 1982-86.

Prior to his one-year stint at North Texas, O’Dowd spent 2006-16 as the associate head coach at University of Texas-San Antonio. Before UTSA, he spent eight seasons at Arizona State under Rob Evans. He coached in the SEC at Mississippi from 1993-98, and also has stops at Kansas State, and Barton County Community College.

During his coaching tenure, O’Dowd has reached the NCAA Tournament five times, NIT three times, and the NJCAA Regional Tournament twice.

O’Dowd has already been well-received by current and former Bethany players. Three current Swedes were part of the search committee that hired O’Dowd, and the majority of the Bethany team were present at his introductory press conference.

Bethany finished the 2016-17 season with a 14-17 overall record, 11-11 in the KCAC.

https://soundcloud.com/jameswestling/itz-segment-3-5-4-17-dan-odowd]