No one stood out more during a recent Morgan State men?s basketball team practice then first-year coach Todd Bozeman.
His passion was evident throughout, as he halted the session numerous times when players made poor decisions, especially on defense. Bozeman is doing all he can to stress to his team that they can improve on last year?s 4-26 record.
Sometimes, though, that process requires Bozeman to be extra harsh with his players before bringing them together at the end of practice to remind them not to take his words personally.
“I?m trying to make you better,” Bozeman told them Thursday. “It can be done, but you?ve got to have the right attitude, energy and passion to do that.”
Morgan State and Bozeman appear to be the perfect fit for each other, considering both need a chance to start over. Bozeman, a 42-year-old Prince George?s County native, is returning to the college game following an eight-year banishment that nearly ruined his up-and-coming career. The punishment came in 1997 after theNCAA found that Bozeman, then the coach at California, paid recruit Jelani Gardner.
The ban ended in 2005, but Bozeman was still out of the college game until the Morgan State job became open following the departure of Butch Beard last spring. The school named Bozeman the 15th men?s basketball coach in its history on April 27. In between California and Morgan State, Bozeman found work in a number of different areas, including as a professional scout, a broadcast analyst and a sales rep for Pfizer.
Though Bozeman admits he rather would have been working as a coach the last decade, he sees a silver lining in his ordeal, which he admits was of his own doing. The time away from coaching allowed him to spend time with his now-teenage children: Blake, 14, and Brianna, 13. He also spent valuable time with his father, Ira, who died following a battle with lung cancer on New Year?s Day.
“We haven?t played a game yet, but my experience showed me it is important to leave everything on the basketball court,” said Bozeman, who, at 29, coached California to an upset of defending national champion Duke in the second round of the 1993 NCAA tournament. “When I?m on the court, my focus is on basketball; when I?m home, my focus is on my family.”
Bozeman knows turning Morgan State into a winning program won?t happen overnight. The Bears have not had a winning season since 1989. But he points to the success of Coppin State, a fellow Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Baltimore school, as well as George Mason?s Cinderella run to the Final Four last year as proof that it can be done.
The keys, Bozeman said, are not only changing the mind-set of his players, but to keep as many of the Baltimore area?s top players close to home. He appears to have done that, along with tapping into his West Coast connections, in his first recruiting class that includes eight new players on the Bears? roster. Among those are forwards Jerrel Green (Southern), Reggie Holmes (St. Francis), Chris Moore (Howard) and Rodney Stokes (Old Mill).
“It?s time for Morgan State to experience some of the success that other schools in the area have had,” Bozeman said. “But first, we have to establish a winning identity and build on that, coupled with playing hard and always being prepared.”
Ron Snyder is a staff writer for the Examiner. He can be reached at [email protected].
