Bryen Spriggs enters the 2024-25 season in his fourth year with the UTEP men's basketball program, including the third while serving as an assistant coach for head coach Joe Golding. Spriggs brought a wealth of experience to the program as a head coach and as an assistant over the last decade.
UTEP has recorded two winning seasons in three years with Spriggs assisting head coach Joe Golding, including piling up 18 victories on the way to appearing in the 2024 CUSA Tournament Championship contest. UTEP hadn't advanced to the title game since 2011. The Miners ousted No. 1 seed, Sam Houston, 65-63, in the semifinals, their first win against a top seed at the league tournament since the 1993 WAC Championships. Furthermore, they became the first squad in school history to storm back from double-digit deficits to win consecutive contests at the league tournament.
Other highlights from 2023-24 included assisting the Miners lead the nation in both steals per game (11.4) and turnovers forced per game (18.7). UTEP crushed the prior standard (280, 2002-023 and 2022-23) with its 389 total thefts, which also rates second all time in CUSA History. The Miners also broke the program mark for turnovers forced in a season with 636.
The Orange and Blue posted the biggest margin of victory (74-49, 25 points) against I-10 rival NM State in 20 years. UTEP claimed the 2023 WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational for the first time since 2019 (no event in 2020 due to Covid-19), in addition to knocking off a power conference program (Cal, 75-72, Nov. 20) at a neutral site for the initial occasion since 2014.
Boykins aided Golding in overhauling the roster after the Miners for the 2022-23 season after they returned just one starter and three letterwinners total from a 20-win team a year prior. UTEP managed a 14-18 record, including a 67-64 victory against NM State on Nov. 12 for its first win against the Aggies in three years
In 2021-22 UTEP picked up its first 20-win season (20-14) since finishing 22-11 in 2014-15. UTEP merited a spot in The Basketball Classic for its first postseason appearance since 2015. The Miners beat Western Illinois, 80-54, on March 19 for their first postseason win since 2009.
UTEP went 11-7 in league play, picking up the first winning record in conference action since going 12-6 in 2016-17. That was helped by winning 10 of 14 down the stretch, including stopping back-to-back C-USA West Division Champion North Texas’ 15-game winning streak, 70-68, on “Senior Day” on March 5. The Miners then went on to defeat Old Dominion, 74-64, on March 9 for their first victory at the C-USA Championships in five years.
UTEP achieved notable success on the road, forging their most road wins (seven) since going 8-2 in 2013-14. UTEP (5-4) had its first winning record on the road in league play since 2016-17, and the five league road wins surpassed its total (four) of such games from the prior three seasons combined.
The Miners notched their first road win at LA Tech since 2004, at New Mexico since 2009, at ODU since 2015 and at UTSA since 2015. They also locked up the first road sweep of the LA Tech and Southern Miss trip in six years.
UTEP put together a six-game winning streak in conference play (Jan. 15 to Feb. 5), which was the longest since also posting six straight C-USA victories in 2016.
Prior to UTEP, Spriggs most recently served on Joe Golding’s staff at Abilene Christian as a special assistant to the head coach during the 2020-21 season.
During his time at ACU, the Wildcats posted a 24-5 overall record and a 13-2 mark in league play. ACU won its first ever NCAA Tournament game, upsetting heavily-favored Texas 53-52 on March 20, 2021.
Prior to ACU, Spriggs served as both the head men's basketball coach and Athletic Director for the Community College of Beaver County in Monaca, Pa. While there, his team compiled a 75-12 record, won a pair of WPCC conference championships, and earned a trio of top-10 national rankings. Spriggs also coached nine all-conference selections.
Before he was at Beaver County, Spriggs spent one year as an assistant coach at both Mineral Area College in Missouri during the 2016-17 season. MAC finshed with a top-5 national ranking and a 28-3 overall record. Seven student-athletes went on to play at the Division I level. Three players were named all-region players and one was an All-American.
Prior to Beaver County, Spriggs served as an assistant coach at Lincoln Trail Community College in Illinois where he was tasked with various roles in supporting the teams during the 2015-16 season. Lincoln Trail CC was the GRAC runner-up, and finsihed with a 19-12 overall record. Two players were all-conference selections, while one was named the freshman of the year.
Spriggs served in a variety of roles during his career, including the assistant director of admissions at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh (2014-15), an assistant boy's basketball coach/drug and alchohol counselor at Summit Academy School for Boys in Herman, Pa., (2013-14), a case manager at Franklin County Children Services in Colombus, Ohio (2013), and a criminal justice professor/assistant men's basketball coach at Marshaltown Community College in Iowa (2012-13).
Spriggs did both his graduate and undergraduate degrees at Slippery Rock University where he spent two years playing (2008-10) and two years as a graduate assistant (2010-12). During his time at Slippery Rock, the team made the PSAC playoffs twice and made the NCAA tournament in 2011.
Spriggs is a member of the NACDA, MOAA, NATYCAA and NABC.
He received a bachelor of science in professional studies with a concentration in sports management in May 2010, and his master of arts in criminal justice in July 2012.
