The men’s basketball program at Shawnee State has added a highly-qualified Ohio native to round out the coaching staff within the program at SSU, as Bryce Beavers, a Columbus metro area native who played at Harvest Preparatory Academy in Canal Winchester, played college basketball for Asbury (Ky.) and served on the highly-successful coaching staffs at fellow NAIA programs Florida Memorial and Mobile (Ala.), will join Fred Lymas‘ staff at SSU for the 2025-26 season on forward, as announced by Lymas Friday afternoon.
“I am excited to announce Bryce Beavers as a new member of my coaching staff,” Lymas said. “Bryce is one of the next up and coming young assistant coaches who is very talented, hard working and will be able to help our program in all facets primarily on the defensive side of the ball. I have been able to build a really good relationship with Coach Beavers the past few years, and believe that he is ready to take the next step in his coaching career. When picking my coaching staff, I wanted highly motivated people willing to work hard, improve on their craft, connect with players, and have championship experience which Coach Beavers will be bringing to our program.”
For the Central Ohio product, the ability to return to coach and pursue a passion of his in his home state is one that he cherishes.
“I’m honestly grateful for this opportunity,” Beavers said. “I’m excited and ready to be in this position alongside Coach Fred Lymas and Coach Chandler Fointno. I love being able to coach back in my home state and closer to family.”
At Harvest Prep, Beavers helped develop Harvest Prep into a statewide powerhouse as an upperclassman with the Warriors. Overall, Beavers led Harvest Prep to a highly impressive 57-3 overall record during his junior and senior seasons of high school basketball, with Harvest Prep going 29-1 during Beavers’ junior season and advancing to the Division III OHSAA State Final Four as a junior and finishing 28-2 with a OHSAA Division III State Championship in the trophy case as a senior.
Overall, Harvest Prep won 22 of its 30 games by double-digits during its run to its first-ever state championship in program history, and between the two seasons, sent eight players to play basketball at the collegiate ranks between the NAIA and the NCAA Division I, II and III ranks, including Beavers (Asbury), his brother Brandon (Shawnee State/Lawrence Tech), Isaiah Cumberland (Lawrence Tech), CJ Anthony (Cincinnati/Iona), Malachi Henry (Tiffin), Soul Hines (Ohio Dominican), Andrew Tate (Shawnee State) and CJ Penha (Trevecca Nazarene/Boston College).
“Simply put, my time at Harvest Prep taught me how to win and what it takes to separate yourself from others,” Beavers said.
At Asbury, Beavers grew into a regular contributor for the Eagles — as Beavers appeared in 34 games over his final pair of seasons with the program. His veteran leadership and scrappy play allowed Asbury to go 38-18 over Beavers’ final two seasons with the program in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Beavers ultimately graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sport management from Asbury in the Spring 2023 semester.
“In my time at Asbury, I grew exponentially in my faith and as a man,” Beavers said. “My four years in college taught me what is capable with great amounts of discipline. In both high school and college basketball, my time was impactful and successful. I plan to keep that the same at Shawnee State, and use the lessons I learned while playing and more recently coaching to help our players grow and be successful this year and the years following.”
Beavers’ charisma and knowledge of the game has immediately translated to early returns and success on the hardwood as a coach. As a graduate assistant at Florida Memorial under former Shawnee State player, Shawnee State National Championship coach and SSU Hall of Famer DeLano Thomas and his national championship-winning assistant, Lindal Yarbrough, Beavers proved to be an instrumental cog in Florida Memorial going 24-7 overall. The Lions won each of their first eight games, 11 out of their first 12 contests, took NCAA Division I Florida Gulf Coast to overtime, and won The Sun Conference Tournament Championship in a 65-61 grudge match over nationally-ranked St. Thomas (Fla.), advancing to the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Tournament with Beavers’ help.
“Florida Memorial helped shape my coaching career,” Beavers said. “Seeing the other side of the game of basketball at the college level for the first time was awesome. I use that time to be a sponge and learn as much as I can.”
During the 2024-25 season, Beavers broadened his collegiate coaching experience by working for another highly-ranked men’s basketball program at Mobile (Ala.), who competes in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) as the program’s lead assistant coach. He proceeded to help the Rams win their first six games of the 2024-25 season, being two nationally ranked opponents in No. 17 Ave Maria (Fla.) and No. 20 Life (Ga.) by 18 (91-73) and 32 (81-49), respectively during that stretch. Mobile then won seven games in a row from Jan. 9 to Feb. 1 and nine of 10 overall from Jan. 9 to Feb. 8 as the Rams sprinted to a 22-8 overall finish — claiming a 99-91 double-overtime victory over Indiana University-Northwest in the NAIA Men’s Basketball Opening Round to make a Second Round appearance in the 2025 NAIA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament.
So far, Beavers sees another rewarding opportunity lying ahead with Shawnee State — especially considering that he has Lymas, along with third-year Shawnee State assistant coach Chandler Fointno, to soak up knowledge from.
“Getting to know Fred and Chandler has been organic,” Lymas said. “Working together with them has been an example of Iron Sharpening in real time. Every day we work hard, and challenge one another not only as coaches, but as men. With all humility, I expect for us to win a regular season title, a conference championship, and be national championship contenders.”
