The Todd Bozeman Effect

Here’s the problem with Morgan State University not resigning Todd Bozeman to an extension. One, everybody knows they can’t afford the guy over the long term. Two, everybody knows he’s the biggest coaching name in local mid-major college basketball, and the biggest name in the whole of black college basketball.

Insiders know that Bozeman’s preference is to stay in Charm City and turn Morgan into the Gonzaga of the East Coast. So if you know you can’t afford him, the next best thing is to make him feel like the only thing Morgan State basketball could ever hope for.

Should Todd Bozeman win the MEAC and appear in the NCAA Tournament as a 15 seed, the eyes of the college basketball world on going to be on him and the Bears. Not Maryland, not Georgetown, not George Mason. Just him and the Bears, if only for one shining moment.

If you aren’t in a position to pay him what he wants, at least pay him what you can as soon as you can. Because with this year’s downturn in local power conference hoops, Morgan State is poised to be a player in the recruitment and TV deal wars. Not just for the school, but for the region to further its reputation as a basketball hotbed.

And that’s not something you want to go away.

Morgan State, tread carefully on Todd Bozeman. You gave him a chance, and no one appreciates that more than he. But appreciation doesn’t pay bills, and even if the local college hoops scene’s appreciation has grown to a level of reliance, he could never mean more to the local basketball culture as he now means to the culture of the program he has rebuilt.

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