One of the brightest young minds in all of collegiate soccer, Bryheem Hancock completed his third season at the helm of the Radford men’s soccer program after taking the position on March 28, 2017. As an All-American goalkeeper, a member of the 2000 NCAA National Championship team, a former professional player or an eight-year assistant at South Florida, Hancock has proven that he can succeed at any level of the game.
In his first season at Radford, Hancock guided Radford to a 10-4-4 mark on the season, including a 5-1-2 mark in Big South play, finishing second in the standings. In the postseason, Radford made its sixth consecutive appearance in the Big South Tournament semifinals.
Hancock brought a high-potent offense to the New River Valley as the Highlanders owned the eighth best scoring offense in the country with 2.11 goals per match, while ranking 10th with 6.28 points per match. Kieran Roberts finished the season with 15 goals, which ranked fourth in the country. Sivert Daehlie followed with 12 goals to rank 17th in the country. In addition, Roberts led the nation with 5.44 shots per match and 2.83 shots on goal.
The Highlanders swept the postseason awards as Roberts was named the Big South’s Attacking Player of the Year and Fraser Colmer earned Co-Defensive Player of the Year. In all, Radford placed four on the Big South First Team (Kieran Roberts, Fraser Colmer, Sivert Daehlie, Victor Valls). Evan Szklennik and Max Edwards were named to the conference’s second team. Edwards joined Noy Daabul on the Big South All-Freshman team.
Academically, Colmer was named Big South Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second straight season, while earning his third straight CoSIDA Academic All-American honor. Colmer also became the first Highlander in program history to be named a Senior CLASS Award All-American, finishing second to Wake Forest’s Jon Bakero.
Then in his second season, Hancock led the Highlanders to a 5-3 conference record to place second in the Big South. As a team, Radford reached the conference semifinals and racked up nine postseason conference awards.
Freshman phenom Amadou Macky Diop was named Big South Freshman of the Year, All-Big South First Team and United Soccer Coaches All-South Region Third Team after scoring nine goals and tallying five assists. Kieran Roberts also made the First Team while Myles Yorke and Victor Valls were placed on the Second Team, Sam Farrell and Thure Ilgner made the All-Freshman Team and Benjamin Thiss earned a spot on the All-Academic Team.
Hancock's third season at the helm saw the Highlanders qualify for the Big South Championships for the 25th consecutive season - the longest such mark of any program in the conference. Radford won six games overall, with three coming in Big South play. Victor Valls and Octavio Ocampo each earned Second Team All-Big South honors, while Ocampo and Mouhameth Thiam earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team. In addition, Jacob Wilkinson became the second Highlander to earn Academic All-America honors since Hancock took over at Radford.
In Hancock’s eight seasons as an assistant, USF finished with double-digit wins in five seasons, advancing to the NCAA Tournament seven times. The Bulls won the 2013 American Athletic Conference Tournament championship and 2011 BIG EAST Red Division Regular Season Championship. USF’s 2015 recruiting class headed by Hancock was named No. 3 in the country by College Soccer News.
After finishing his professional playing career, Hancock began his collegiate coaching career at South Florida in 2009. Under Hancock’s watchful eye, USF goalkeeper Jeff Attinella was named the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year and was also named a first team National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-American in his first season. That same year, Attinella posted a 14-4-3 record with seven shutouts and a 0.83 goals against average.
Hancock spent his collegiate career at UConn (1998-2001), guiding the Huskies to NCAA Tournament appearances all four years, two final four appearances and the 2000 NCAA Division I National Championship. The Middletown, Del., native was named to the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament Team in 2000. Hancock was named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year in 2001 as well as earning NSCAA All-America status. In his senior season, he was honored with the 2001 Leadership Student-Athlete Award.
He finished his career at UConn boasting 44 wins, 29 shutouts, 25 goals allowed and a 0.70 goals against average. Hancock graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Communications in 2001.
After setting the UConn collegiate shutout record at 15 in one season, Hancock played professional soccer in the United States for three years, including stints with the L.A. Galaxy (2001-02), Atlanta Silverbacks (2002-03) and Toronto Lynx (2004) of Major League Soccer (MLS).
In 2001, Hancock was the first goalkeeper selected in the 2001 MLS Draft by the L.A. Galaxy. In 2003, Hancock was named the Atlanta Silverback MVP while recording the team record for most saves in a season and most saves in a single game. He accumulated additional honors in 2004 with the Toronto Lynx as the team defensive MVP. In his year with the Lynx, he held the team record for most saves in a season.
In addition to his success at UConn, Hancock was part of the U-17 National Team, where he was named captain in 1997 and 1998, and was the starting goalkeeper in the 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championships in Egypt.
What others are saying about Bryheem Hancock
“Robert Lineburg has made a tremendous hire in bringing Bryheem Hancock to Radford University to lead their men’s soccer program. I have had the pleasure of knowing Bryheem as a student-athlete and college coach. Bryheem was a great goalkeeper, consummate team player and even better person. He has learned the game from some of the most outstanding coaches including Ray Reid (UConn), George Kiefer (NC State) and Bobby Muuss (Wake Forest). Coach Hancock will do a great job on the field, while most importantly stressing academic success and the personal development of students. It’s a great day for Radford Athletics and the soccer program.” ~ Jeffery Hathaway – Director of Athletics at Hofstra (Former AD at UConn)
“I could not be happier. I’ve known Bryheem since he was 12 years old on the USSF Regional team. I had him at UConn, where he led us to a national championship. I have watched him work and help build a program at South Florida. Radford has made a great hire as Bryheem will succeed on-and-off the field. I could not be prouder of him at this moment. He has got it all; he has a great work ethic, is extremely bright, street smart and understands academic commitment. Bryheem is not afraid of rolling his sleeves up and getting the job done. He will be a great success as a head coach.” ~ Ray Reid – UConn men’s soccer head coach
“I am extremely happy for Bryheem, without hard working and committed players, coaches like myself would not have the opportunities we have today. I have been very lucky to have known and coached Bryheem since right before he came to UConn. I had the pleasure of watching him grow into the best goalkeeper in college soccer, while leading the team to two final fours and a national championship. He has worked extremely hard since his playing days and has a track record for winning everywhere he has been. He is a great recruiter and one of the most up-and-coming head coaches in the country.” ~ Bobby Muuss – Wake Forest men’s soccer head coach (Former assistant at UConn)
“This is an incredible hire. I know what Bryheem is capable of, he is one of the best recruiters in the country and has a phenomenal work ethic. He is a man of great integrity and has built an incredible reputation for himself along with great relationships in the college game. The players will run through a wall for him and I am excited to see what the future holds with Coach Hancock at the helm for Radford.” ~ George Kiefer – NC State men’s soccer head coach (Former head coach at USF)
