The 2026-27 season is Charles Belt’s fourth as the head men’s basketball coach at Oklahoma Panhandle State University.
Head Coaching Highlights at OPSU (Through Three Seasons)
Across three seasons with the Aggies from 2023-24 through 2025-26, Belt’s team and athletes have collected:
- One Second Team All-SAC player
- One Third Team All-SAC performer
- Two SAC All-Freshman Team honorees
- Two Honorable Mention All-SAC athletes
- One SAC All-Defensive Team member
- Two SAC Offensive Player of the Week awards
- Two NAIA Scholar-Athletes
- One CSC Academic All-District Team member
Hired in March 2023, Belt took over an Aggie men’s basketball program that was coming off a two-win season with aims of changing the culture. Under Belt’s guidance as head coach, OPSU won its first two games of the 2023-24 year and doubled its win total from the previous year.
Belt brought Panhandle State basketball back to relevance in 2024-25, as the team went 11-17 (9-15 SAC) and finished one game shy of qualifying for the postseason tournament behind an 8-6 close to the year. The double-digit wins total and the nine conference victories marked just the second time over the previous six seasons that those figures had been reached by the Aggies. The 2024-25 team was also well-recognized in the SAC yearly awards, as OPSU had one player each named to the Second-, Honorable Mention, All-Freshman, and All-Defensive All-SAC Teams. The Aggies closed the year allowing 66.6 points per contest, which ranked No. 2 in the SAC and No. 13 in the entire NAIA.
Despite the team taking a step back with six wins in 2025-26, the Aggies had two players named as the SAC Offensive Player of the Week in addition to boasting a Third Team All-SAC honoree.
Head Coaching Highlights at William Woods University (2019-2023)
In four seasons as the head men’s basketball coach of William Woods University, Belt coached the Owls to a 54-50 (35-30 AMC) record and made two AMC Semifinals appearances. His 54 wins ranked second all-time for a head coach in program history, leaving Belt just 29 wins short of being the program’s all-time winningest coach.
In 2021-22, Belt led WWU to its best conference win percentage and highest conference finish in program history as the team went 18-14 (11-5 AMC).
Throughout his four seasons, Belt coached nine different players to AMC all-conference honors, and six players went on to play professional basketball. The Owls had an NAIA nationally ranked defense every season and accumulated a 100% senior graduation rate under Belt. Additionally, 44 AMC All-Academic team members came through Belt’s program as his teams compiled a 3.33 cumulative GPA throughout his four years.
On the court at Williams Woods, Belt’s players were recognized with numerous honors including four AMC Defensive Players of the Year, one AMC Freshman of the Year, two First Team All-AMC accolades, three Second Team All-AMC honors, and six AMC All-Freshman Team awards.
Before William Woods University
Prior to becoming the head coach at Williams Woods in 2019, Belt spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Northern Michigan University – the last four of which he was elevated to the position of associate head coach. He also served two years from 2011 through 2013 as an assistant coach at Beloit College.
Education
Belt holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Ripon College.
Personal
Belt resides in Goodwell, Oklahoma, with his wife, Maria (Wiltzius) Belt. He is an avid contributor to X/Twitter and is a big-time Chicago sports fan (Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks and White Sox – NOT the Cubs).
