Bethesda University


Bethesda University is a private Christian university in Anaheim, California. It was founded in 1976 by Dr. David Yonggi Cho. The university is accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education and the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools and it is approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education of the State of California.

Athletics

Bethesda University is a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association. Their men's basketball team is a member of the Pacific Christian Athletic Conference. They currently have five intercollegiate sports teams made up of men and women's soccer, men and women's basketball, and baseball. The Flames, as they are known, have enjoyed some success in athletics in the past few years. Both women's basketball and baseball have reached the NCCAA's national tournament championship game in 2015 and 2016. Men's soccer has also made national tournament appearances in 2015 and 2016.
In the 2016–17 season, the men's basketball program achieved what is perhaps the most relevant feat for this young athletic program by defeating NCAA D1 opponent, Cal State Northridge of the Big West Conference. Bethesda is only the third NCCAA school to have won against a D1 program in the history of the league. They are the only non-NCAA/NAIA men's basketball team in the Western United States and the PCAC to have accomplished such a feat.
Bethesda men's basketball coach Leo Balayon is the first and only Filipino to serve as a men's college basketball head coach in the United States.