THE LENTZ FILE

Personal Information

Full Name: William Bryan Lentz
Born: April 17, 1977, in Lumberton, N.C.
Hometown: Hickory, N.C.
High School: Newton-Conover (Newton, N.C.)
College: Lenoir-Rhyne, 2000
Wife: Christy
Children: Luke and Owen

COACHING/ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE

2001-08:
Lenoir-Rhyne, assistant coach
2008-10:
Lenoir-Rhyne, associate head coach
2010-14:
Texas, special assistant/video coordinator
2014-18:
Appalachian State, assistant coach
2018-24:
Tennessee, director of player development
2024-Present:
Tennessee, assistant coach

Bryan Lentz joined the University of Tennessee men’s basketball staff in May 2018 as the director of player development. Now in his eighth year on Rocky Top, he earned a promotion to his current role as assistant coach in July 2024.

With Lentz on staff, Tennessee owns a 175-65 (.729) record, an SEC regular season title (2024), an SEC Tournament crown (2022), five AP top-20 finishes and all three of the program’s AP top-five finishes. The Volunteers have played each of the six NCAA Tournaments since his hire, advancing to the Sweet 16 four teams and making a pair of Elite Eight trips.

"Bryan has a strong basketball mind and possesses nearly a quarter-century of coaching experience," Barnes said upon announcing Lentz’s promotion. "His passion for assisting the young men in our program become the absolute best they can be, both on and off the court, is unrivaled. We have shared a great deal of success together, both during his first six seasons at Tennessee and previously at Texas, and I know he will help our program continue its upward trajectory in his new role."

In 2024-25, his first year as an assistant coach, Lentz aided Tennessee to a 30-8 (12-6 SEC) record, an Elite Eight berth and a fifth-place finish in the polls to tie a program record. The Volunteers spent the entire year in the AP top 12, with 18 straight weeks in the top eight and five atop the list. The team set program bests in AP top-25 (10) and AP top-15 (seven) victories, plus tied the top mark for AP top-10 (four) decisions. Tennessee, with Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zeigler, was the only school with two All-Americans. Zeigler won SEC Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in a row and joined Jahmai Mashack on the four-name finalist list for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.

Lentz has helped tutor 10 Volunteers who went on to become NBA Draft choices. Four of those individuals were selected in the first round. In addition to Lanier and Zeigler, he has aided two more Volunteers, consensus first-team picks Grant Williams and Dalton Knecht, to All-America honors.

Lentz came to Tennessee following four seasons as an assistant coach at Appalachian State University, from 2014-18. Prior to that, Lentz spent four years as a special assistant/video coordinator on Barnes’ staff at Texas, where he was involved in all aspects of internal operations within the Longhorns program. During his Texas tenure, 2010-14, the Longhorns compiled an 88-51 (.633) record, made three NCAA Tournament trips and earned one AP top-10 finish.

Lentz began his coaching career working for nine years, 2001-10, alongside his father, John Lentz, the legendary head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne University (it was a college until 2008). During that stretch, the Bears won five South Atlantic Conference (SAC) regular season titles and one SAC Tournament title, as well as made five NCAA Division II Tournament appearances. In his final two seasons with the Bears, 2008-10, Lentz served as the team’s associate head coach.

A four-year letter winner at Lenoir-Rhyne, which is also Barnes’ alma mater, Lentz finished his collegiate playing career with 1,374 points and ranked fifth in school history in assists (388), steals (159) and free-throw percentage (.824). He was named SAC Freshman of the Year in 1996-97 and earned second-team All-SAC honors as a sophomore in 1997-98.

Lentz, who hails from Hickory, N.C., the same hometown as Barnes, earned his bachelor’s degree in sports management from Lenoir-Rhyne in 2000. He and his wife, Christy, have two sons, Luke and Owen.

KNOXVILLE, TN - 2021.10.12 - Family Portraits Bryan Lentz