Trace Bevell was named Head Coach of the Southern Virginia University men's basketball team in the summer of 2023. Under Bevell's watch, the Knights have quickly become a force in the competitive USA South Athletic Conference.
In his second year, Bevell's squad enjoyed the Knights' winningest season in over ten years. They won 19 games, a remarkable thirteen win improvement from the year before, and the most since joining the NCAA. They were led by USA South Player of the Year, Eli Ballstaedt, who became the first Knight to win conference player of the year honors in team history.
Bevell comes from Jordan High School in Sandy, Utah, where he was the head boys basketball coach for over a decade. Overseeing all aspects of the program, Bevell led Jordan to unprecedented heights, including a Utah 5A State Title Runner-up during the 2018–19 season, while also being named Utah's 5A Coach of the Year.
Before becoming Head Coach at Jordan, Bevell was an assistant coach for Lone Peak High School's varsity boys team where he contributed to the program's 26–1 record en route to the Utah 5A State Championship in 2012–13. After the season, Lone Peak was named the MaxPreps National High School Champions.
Prior to Lone Peak, Bevell served as the head men's basketball coach at Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs, Wyoming, from 2007–12. There, he guided the program to a 109–57 record (66% winning percentage). During the 2010–11 season, Bevell led them to a Region IX Championship and a seventh-place finish at the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament.
Bevell also held coaching tenures at Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, and McCook Community College in McCook, Nebraska. As the Head Coach at both institutions, Bevell led his teams to multiple Region IX Championships and appearances in the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament while earning various coaching accolades, including District IX Coach of the Year and NCCAC Coach of the Year.
Bevell earned his bachelor's degree in secondary education from Western Oregon University, where he majored in physical education and minored in mathematics. He also holds a master's degree in health, physical education, and recreation with an emphasis in athletic administration and exercise physiology from South Dakota State University. Bevell served a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Texas, San Antonio Mission.
