HANCEVILLE, Ala. – After spending last season as an assistant on the sidelines with the Lady Bulldogs, former Wallace State assistant coach Tim Bellmon is taking over as head girls basketball coach at Hanceville High School. Bellmon is replacing Head Coach Christina Watson who served six years as head coach. Tim is also the father of former Bulldogs standout Tyson Bellmon who recently signed to continue his playing career at Marion Military Institute.
Bellmon began his coaching career at Victory Christian Academy in Dallas in 1998 and spent nearly 20 years coaching in the Lone Star State, making several stops to fill assistant and head coaching positions. After serving as an assistant coach at Texas Wesleyan University from 2009 to 2014, Bellmon made his way East to Hanceville to join John Meeks’ staff at Wallace State as an assistant. In 2018, Bellmon shifted onto the Lady Lions’ sideline as an assistant for Coach Jessica McBrayer before filling the same role at Hanceville High School for the Lady Bulldogs in 2019.
Bellmon began his coaching career in high school and has made his way back after spending the better part of 20 years coaching at the college level. The decision to return to high school coaching wasn’t something Bellmon was thinking about when he came to Hanceville but felt he had to take advantage of the opportunity when it became available.
“Well, at 51 years old being on the road recruiting all the time isn’t as big of a thrill as it used to be. So, this is kind of the perfect situation to be able to come up on the tail end of a 20-year career in the business. It was a good fit with me already being in Hanceville for a few years at Wallace and then just transferring over to the high school,” Bellmon said. “I’m already familiar with the area and I’ve had a great working relationship with Coach (Christina) Watson and Mr. (Jimmy) Collins and to be honest with you I didn’t even come to Hanceville to coach. I came here to be a sub and it turned into coaching volleyball and basketball.”
As of now, Bellmon plans to continue working with the volleyball team as well as the basketball team.
The most glaring issue that Bellmon will deal with on the court next season is the absence of former Lady Bulldogs star Kelly Pickett, who will be playing at Shorter University when the season begins. The good news is that there will be plenty of shots for new faces to step up and take this year, and Bellmon is excited to see how his players respond to the challenge.
“The biggest thing is I hope it gives the girls a lot of confidence. Kelly was always our safety valve and she’s a really good safety valve but I think we have some girls that are way more talented than they have shown and they’re going to have a stage to step up and show that they can do some things that I know they can get done.”
With his first season as head coach on the horizon, Bellmon’s goals for his team are already clear.
“My goal is just to get better every day. I want us to be judged by not how we look at the beginning of the season but by the end of the season,” Bellmon said. “I want to make sure that we’re better in March than we are in October and that happens by continuing to get better every day.”
Bellmon is thankful for the chance to take over the sideline for the Lady Bulldogs and wants to credit both his predecessor and his principal for helping him get to this position.
“For me this is just a true blessing. God puts you in situations for a reason and I never thought this opportunity would come about so I feel truly blessed and I plan on taking advantage of this opportunity,” Bellmon said. “I can’t thank Coach Watson enough for what she’s done for the program and what she’s done for me to be able to slide over one seat and of course I want to thank Mr. Collins for giving me this opportunity.”
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