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Todd Bozeman Named Head Men’s Basketball
Coach at Morgan State
April 28, 2006
BALTIMORE, Md. -- Todd Bozeman has been named the 15th head
men’s basketball coach in Morgan State University history,
Director of Athletics Floyd Kerr announced on Thursday, April
27.
Bozeman replaces Alfred Beard, who stepped down March 28 after
a 4-26 season, the Bears’ worst record since a 3-25 record
in 2001.
“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,” said Kerr.
Bozeman brings 15 years of coaching experience, three NCAA
Tournament berths, and at the age of 29 was the youngest head
coach ever in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.
The 42-year old comes to Morgan after spending the last eight
years out of college coaching following an NCAA infraction
at the University of California.
“Since the ‘show cause’ penalty that was
imposed upon Mr. Bozeman as a result of this case expired as
of June 1, 2005,” Kerr said, “and there are no
procedural impediments to his seeking employment at an NCAA
institution, Morgan State University determined that Coach
Bozeman was the best applicant, candidate and selection for
its Head Men’s Basketball Coaching position.”
Bozeman possesses a dynamic basketball background that includes
coaching at the highest levels as well as affiliations with
some of the best teams, coaches and players in the game’s
history.
“I always had a dream and a goal of taking a historically
black college and making it a national power and making it
a special basketball program,” said Bozeman. “So
now I have that opportunity and I am going to do my best to
fulfill the dream.”
In four seasons, he led Cal to three top 4 finishes in the
Pac-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 at Cal, 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 strong recruiter, Bozeman’s connections should help
bring better talent to Morgan State, which hasn’t won
a Mid-Eastern Conference championship in 30 years.
“Talking to people in the community and through the AAU
scene, everybody says that Morgan is a ‘sleeping giant’ and
it has tremendous possibility,” said Bozeman. “So
I don’t have to convince the people of Baltimore of that,
I just have to get out and make myself available to them and
see the talent and then let them know what is available here.
Because they can come here and have anything that they can
have at any other university and also I have the experience
to help them not just become better players but better people.”
Bozeman served as an assistant coach at George Mason (1988),
Tulane (1988-90) and Cal (1990-92) before taking over as the
Golden Bears head coach in 1992 where he posted a 63-35 career
record.
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