Todd Bozeman addresses the media on his recent hire as MSU's Head Men's Basketball Coach. (Lawrence Johnson/All-Pro Photo)
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.
Press Conference Transcript
HEAD MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH
Todd Bozeman
Opening Statement:
This is a great opportunity for me, but the only thing that makes it not complete is I wanted to get back in before my dad passed. My father passed New Year’s Day and it was a hell of a way to start your new year. So you can imagine my feelings going into the New Year, looking at this and saying man, what a way to start your new year. I know he is walking Heaven’s Gate and saying “hey, hey, hey hold on now, first I have some things I have to take care of, I have to get my man back on the sideline. I know he’s up there being very instrumental and I would give anything to see a smile on his face because he was my biggest fan, and he was the reason why I was even in basketball. So that’s the only thing that doesn’t make this complete.
It’s the right time, the right place, and the right situation for me. I don’t have any bitterness in my heart for any opportunity that I didn’t get before, because like I said, it’s the right time, the right place and the right opportunity for me. The Lord doesn’t always come when you want him, but he’s always on time.
I’m very appreciative and my goal is to make Morgan a special place, not necessarily to make it a special place because it is a special place, but to make the basketball program a special place, not only to the students, fans and alumni, but everybody who has supported me.
The last two words that my dad said to me before he passed were ‘be patient.’ So I’ll say to you, don’t misinterpret me being patient that I’m not hungry, I don’t want to get it done, but be patient are the words that I will live by. Maybe had I lived by those words before I wouldn’t be in this situation.
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. So now I have that opportunity and I am going to do my best to fulfill the dream.
On how emotional its been being out of coaching:
TB:It was tough because I felt like I let a lot of people down that supported me. Sometimes in your youth you don’t understand that. You don’t realize that you represent so many more people. At the time I was probably the first young black coach to really be on the scene like that. I took that personally and I also took it personally that I affected the coaches on my staff, their families, any alumni and everyone.
TB:The saving grace was that I had an opportunity to spend time with my children, being a positive in their lives and I think that it’s really important that people stay around their kids. For the last 10 years I’ve been fixing their breakfast every morning, taking them to school, picking them up, going to their athletic events, my daughter is a dancer, so I’ve been attending all of their events and going to PTA, so all of that has been apart of that.
TB:If someone had told me 10 years ago that my dad had 10 years left and you have the option of going back and spending time with him and then come back to basketball, I’d take that because I don’t have to describe my dad to my kids they know him. I don’t have to talk about him for them to understand he was there he went to their games he was around. If he had of just held on for four more months he would be right here and you guys would be interviewing him.
On bringing past experiences to Morgan:
TB:I’ve been where they want to go. It’s never a question of having an ability to do that because I’ve done that. So I feel very comfortable with that. I have a little more season with me now. I’m more mature probably more prepared now than I’ve ever been. I’m more prepared now than I even was back then. Back then it was all instinct because I didn’t go through a process to determine whether I was qualified for the job. It was thrown into the fire and you had to survive.
TB:I have the experiences of having experienced the NCAA Tournament as well as the NBA Playoffs. I’ve coached internationally, done camps and clinics on four different continents, so basketball is kind of my tool to teach kids and teach people so I think through my experiences to show other people not just the players that if you have faith and stand by it that anything is possible. Because I can’t tell you how may people told me that I would never get back into college basketball and its just proof that you have to just stand the course and do all that you can.
On keeping and bringing local talent to Morgan:
TB:Based on the product that I have to sell here, which is Morgan State University, it is a tremendous opportunity. When you have an entrepreneur such as Earl Graves that attended the University, most of the times, when you ask people what they want to do everybody says business. That doesn’t always end up the case, but they always say business, so I have a great role model to show them if business if what they want to pursue.
TB:Talking to people in the community and through the AAU scene, everybody says that Morgan is a ‘sleeping giant’ and it has tremendous possibility. 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.
