The Bryant University women’s basketball head coach Mary Burke is pleased to announce Tayra Melendez as the program’s new Director of Basketball Operations.
Melendez comes to Bryant after a successful four-year playing career at the University of Rhode Island from 2012-16. While in Kingston, Melendez led the Rams as a captain for three of her four years and was a two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week honoree.
After college, Melendez enjoyed a professional career with the Puerto Rican National Team (2014-18), Puerto Rico-Baloncesto Superior Nacional Femenino (2016-18), Macara Lums in Ambata, Ecuador (2017), and most recently with Zkk Sibebenik where she helped her team to a Silver Medal in the 2019 Croatian Cup.
“Her experience at URI as a four-year letter winner and three-year captain will provide great leadership at this position as we continue to hold the program to a high standard,” said Burke. “The fact that she is a member of the Puerto Rican National Team and will be competing in the Olympic trials for women’s basketball, adds to her high-level qualifications that are necessary to be an elite player. Her credentials will also hold great credibility with the players”
As a coach, Melendez has helped lead multiple teams at the youth level as both a head coach and an assistant. Melendez started her coaching career as an assistant with the Girls Varsity Basketball Team at the Rivers School in Massachusetts for the 2016-17 season before taking on the Middle School A-Team the next year at the Rivers School. Melendez is also heavily involved with the Mass Mavericks AAU Program as she led the 8th/9th-grade team (2016-17) and assisted with the 10th/11th-grade squad (2017-19).
In addition to her efforts on the court, Melendez earned a spot on URI’s Dean’s List for three years and received the University of Rhode Island Scholar-Athlete Award in 2015. A WBCA recipient of “So You Want To Be A Coach”, Melendez spent time as an intern for the URI women’s basketball program in 2016 and volunteered with the Northeastern women’s basketball program in 2017.
Melendez graduated from Rhode Island in 2016 with a Bachelor’s in Human Development & Family Studies.
https://www.bryantbulldogs.com/sports/wbkb/2019-20/releases/20190826gz9mgb
