Former Cal-Berkeley hoops coach Todd Bozeman, former mentor to Jason Kidd and coming off an 8-year NCAA ban, has landed on his feet. If you can call being hired to rescue a team that just went 4-26 under Butch Beard landing on your feet.

From the Baltimore Sun’s Kevin Baker :

With phrases such as “new direction” and “turning point,” Morgan State athletic director Floyd Kerr introduced Todd Bozeman as the school’s 15th men’s basketball coach yesterday.

“Everybody says this is a sleeping giant,” said Bozeman, 42. “This is a tremendous opportunity.”

A Prince George’s County resident, Bozeman cited George Mason’s run to this year’s Final Four as an example of a smaller school being able to accomplish bigger goals. “That lets you know it’s possible,” he said.

Bozeman said he is relatively familiar with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference from going to games, serving as a media analyst and his contact with coaches such as Fang Mitchell of Coppin State and Dwight Freeman of Norfolk State. But he said he will not model the program after any of his coaching adversaries.

“We want to be able to go as high as we can,” he said. “We want to build a house with brick and cement, not straw that the wind will blow away. But coaches don’t win, administrations do. We want to attract players with the courage Dr. Richardson has.”

As to his checkered past — which included becoming the youngest coach (29) ever in the NCAA Sweet 16 and Elite Eight in addition to the NCAA sanction — Bozeman attributed it to youth.

“It was tough because I felt like I let a lot of people down. As a youth, you don’t really understand that,” he said.