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One of the best mid-major coaches in the country, Lynn Bria of Stetson, has received a contract extension, that will also make her the second highest paid women's basketball coach in the Atlantic Sun, sources tell Swish Appeal.
Bria has been the Hatters leader for the past eight seasons, and during her tenure, Stetson has truly been a paragon of success: the Hatters have had six consecutive 20+ win seasons, four postseason tournaments appearances, two NCAA Tournament appearances and three ASun Championships.
Swish Appeal reached out to Bria, and this is what she had to say, "I'm extremely grateful to our president, Dr. Wendy Libby and our Director of Athletics, Jeff Altier for the opportunity at Stetson. Words can't even express how much they both mean to me. Their support and belief in our program is vital to winning.
"Without them, we don't have the sustained success that we have had over the last six years. I'm so excited about our future and being the head coach at such a prestigious university."
Bria has taken this program to heights it never had reached before, as it was devoid of sustained greatness. In her first year at Stetson, she coached the team to eight victories and ever since then the record has continued to proliferate.
Her best record came in the 2013-2014 season when the Hatters had a 27-8 record. With 27 wins, they posted a school record for most wins in a single season. That same year Stetson had another school-record with 16 conference games and a school-record of 16 consecutive wins during the regular season.
Bria has been coaching women's basketball for 24 years, including 18 years as a Division I head coach. She has coached at West Virginia (06-07) as an assistant, the University of Miami, head coach at Ohio (1999-2006) and head coach at UCF (1996-99).
Her last season at UCF, she led the team to the TAAC (now Atlantic Sun) regular season and tournament champions and appeared in the NCAA.
Bria is also a member of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.