Named the Columbia College head men’s basketball coach on April 29, 2026, Tyler Bredehoeft is entering his first season 2026-27.
Prior to coming to Columbia, Bredehoeft rebuilt the men’s basketball squad at Avila University (Mo.). During the 2025-26 campaign, he led Avila to its third highest season win total in 25 years, while posting the most Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) wins in school history, which earned the program its best-ever conference tournament seeding.
During Bredehoeft's three years at Avila, he coached four All-KCAC players. He saw several individual records broken, including the career FG% leader in Xavier Kahube, the single-season FT% record by Gio Mack, and the single-game offensive rebound record by Rob Lee. He also saw several team records broken or tied, including points in a game (115), FGs made in a game (46), and most three-pointers made in a game.
Bredehoeft came to Avila from Rock Valley College (Ill.). In three seasons as the head coach at Rock Valley, his teams posted a 64-35 overall record with two Region IV Championships and a Final Four appearance. The Golden Eagles recorded 20 or more wins in all three of Bredehoeft's seasons.
In 2021-2022, the Golden Eagles posted a 24-10 record on their way to a Final Four appearance and a third-place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament. Aleksa Markovic was named Region IV POY & Second Team All-American and Malik Marshall and Nick Pierson earned NJCAA National Tournament Team honors.
Prior to his time at Rock Valley College, Bredehoeft served as an Assistant Coach at Emporia State University (Kan.) under Head Coach Craig Doty. In his lone season at Emporia State, the Hornets doubled their conference wins and made the MIAA Conference Tournament in Municipal Auditorium for the first time since 2014. Emporia State won their first Conference Tournament game since 2011.
Prior to Emporia State, Bredehoeft served as an assistant coach for the University of Saint Mary (Kan.) from 2013 to 2018. In five seasons, the Spires posted a 95-57 record and a 62-38 conference record, while receiving votes and being nationally ranked in the NAIA DII polls. During his seasons with the Spires, he saw several players receive KCAC honors, as well as NAIA All-American honors.
Before getting into the collegiate coaching world, Bredehoeft was the head boys basketball coach at Tina-Avalon High School (Mo.).
A native of Alma, Mo., Bredehoeft graduated from Central Methodist University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in History-Education and graduated from the University of Saint Mary in 2015 with a Masters of Arts in Education and completed the Sports Administration Master's program in 2017.
Tyler resides in Columbia with his wife, Samantha, and their daughter, Gianna.
