"In the past, coaches would let me get away with everything," said Reggie Holmes, Morgan State's leading scorer. "He don't let me get away with nothing. That's good. He's such an intense guy, and he's so emotional. We feed off him a lot. I've grown as a player since he's been here.
Bozeman insists he's not that different than he was all those years ago, when he was coaching at Cal.
"My energy, my passion, that's all the same," he said. "I'm just older and wiser. If there is one thing that's different, it's probably my weight. I'm definitely heavier."
Bozeman has even managed to earn the respect of his peers once again. Earlier this month, Bozeman was named one of 10 finalists for the 2009 Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year award.
"Todd's done a great job," said Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams, whose team lost to Morgan State during the regular season. "Not just because they're the champions of the MEAC. ... I think Todd has looked at his situation and done the best possible job he could do there."
There is some question about Bozeman's future at Morgan State. How long does he intend to stay? Does he have aspirations of getting back to an elite program? Bozeman, for the most part, shrugs off such talk. His contract runs out after this season, and the school and the coach haven't worked out an extension yet.
Morgan State athletic director Floyd Kerr said he is confident that he will keep Bozeman.
"I feel very confident and comfortable that he wants to stay, and we want him to stay," Kerr said.
For now, Bozeman just wants to enjoy the ride. On Selection Sunday, when the school held a pep rally to celebrate the Bears' NCAA tournament bid, Bozeman even danced a little on stage. Before the announcement, he was so happy, he broke into a maneuver his players immediately dubbed "The Stinky Leg."
"Every time I tell him to do it, we all start laughing," Holmes said.
Bozeman may look more like Chubby Checker than rapper Soulja Boy when he does it, but that hardly matters. After all those years of waiting for this moment would come, he's finally dancing again.
Baltimore Sun reporters Ken Murray and Rick Maese contributed to this article.
