Fansided

30 biggest college basketball scandals of all time

By Mike Phillips

Coll. Basketball: W. Regionals. Michigan's Jimmy King #24 hugging Chris Webber #4 after game vs Temple. (Photo by Harley Soltes/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Coll. Basketball: W. Regionals. Michigan's Jimmy King #24 hugging Chris Webber #4 after game vs Temple. (Photo by Harley Soltes/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images) /
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5 Dec 1995: Forward Shareff Abdur-Rahim and coach Todd Bozeman of the California Bears speak to each other during a game against the San Francisco Dons at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California. California won the game 83-70. Mandatory Credit: Otto Greule /Allsport
5 Dec 1995: Forward Shareff Abdur-Rahim and coach Todd Bozeman of the California Bears speak to each other during a game against the San Francisco Dons at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California. California won the game 83-70. Mandatory Credit: Otto Greule /Allsport /

13. Todd Bozeman flames out spectacularly at Cal

One of the most dramatic rises and falls in college basketball history belongs to former Cal head coach Todd Bozeman. Bozeman ended up as the head coach late in 1993, when Lou Campanelli was fired with 10 games to go in the regular season and guided the Golden Bears to the NCAA Tournament.

Cal made its trip worthwhile, upsetting Duke in the second round for one of the biggest shocks in March Madness history. Bozeman quickly became the permanent coach and took the Golden Bears back to the NCAA Tournament in two of the next three years.

Things unraveled for Bozeman in prior to the 1996-1997 season, when he was fired for paying the parents of recruit Jelani Gardner $30,000 so they could see their son play. When Bozeman began to cut Gardner out of the rotation, Gardner’s parents turned Bozeman in to the NCAA.

The fact that Bozeman was also embroiled in a sexual assault scandal didn’t help, and the NCAA came down hard on Cal, forcing them to forfeit the entire 1994-1995 season and all but two games of the following year. Bozeman was hammered with an eight-year show-cause penalty for his role in the investigation, and the term was lengthened because of the fact he lied to investigators.

After toiling at the lower levels of the NBA for a decade, Bozeman resurfaced as the head coach of Morgan State in 2005. Bozeman coached there until he was dismissed in 2019.