New Coach, Given Second Chance, Sees Turnaround at Morgan in 3 Years

By Austin Ward and Jessica Harris
Black College Wire

Photo credit: Lawrence Johnson/All-Pro Photo Todd Bozeman said of the Morgan State coaching job, "It was the right time, the right place, and the right situation for me."

Asked his time frame in turning around the Morgan State University men's basketball program, Todd Bozeman said, "Be patient . . . be patient, but I'll have to say three years." He added, "You can expect a tough, hard-nosed team that can compete with an uptempo exciting style of basketball. We're going to press the issue offensively, and we're going to press the issue defensively."

Bozeman, who was banned from coaching for eight years over illegal recruitment practices, was named Morgan State's 15th head men's basketball coach. It is his first coaching position since the infraction. He succeeds Alfred Beard, who resigned on March 28.

"With the recent improvements to MSU's infrastructure and the development of a marketing platform in mind, the addition of Todd Bozeman will hopefully be viewed years from now as the turning point in the history of Morgan State's basketball program," Director of Athletics Floyd Kerr said in his April 27 announcement. The Bears' record was 4-26 this year.

Bozeman held a head coaching position at the University of California until 1996, when he was accused of making payments to the parents of Cal player Jelani Gardner. Bozeman was also cited for denying the NCAA violations and providing false and misleading information during the initial NCAA-University of California investigation.

During the eight-year ban, any school that wanted to hire Bozeman had to appeal to the NCAA infraction committee and "show cause or reason" why he should be hired.

Bozeman, 42, was released from the show-cause on June 1, 2005.

"It's the right time, the right place, and the right situation for me," Bozeman said. He added, "My goal is to make the Morgan State University basketball program a special place to students, fans, alumni, and to everybody who supports the program."

Joe McLean, a leader on the men's basketball team, commented, "I'm very excited about next season, because I'll be a senior, and I feel that Coach Bozeman will be different, but it will be fun."

Bozeman brings 15 years of coaching experience and three NCAA tournament berths. At age 29, he was the youngest head coach ever in the NCAA Sweet 16.

After taking over the head coach position at Cal in 1992, he posted a 63-35 career record. In four seasons, he led Cal to three top four finishes in the Pacific 10, ranked in the Top 20 in four years and led the Golden Bears to the regional semi-finals for the first time since 1960.

While on the Berkeley, Calif., campus, Bozeman coached the likes of current NBA players Jason Kidd and Lamond Murray of the New Jersey Nets and Shareef Abdur-Rahim of the Sacramento Kings.

A native of Washington, D.C., Bozeman has contacts in the Baltimore area and said he had a strong desire to recruit students locally.

Austin Ward and Jessica Harris, students at Morgan State University, write for the Spokesman.

Posted May 22, 2006