Bobby Braswell
Men's Basketball Coach

The fortunes of the men’s basketball team at Cal State Northridge improved greatly on April 30, 1996, the day it hired Bobby Braswell, a
1985 graduate of CSUN, to pilot its men’s basketball program. He is just the fourth head coach of the Matador men’s basketball program in its 47-year history.

Braswell, the 2001 Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year, returned to his alma mater and has guided Cal State Northridge to unparalleled success.
His 143-123 overall record (.538) at CSUN is nothing short of amazing as the Matadors have one of the smallest arenas in all of NCAA Division I basketball, The Matadome, a 1,600-seat gymnasium.

He has guided CSUN to postseason play in each of his previous nine seasons, reaching the conference tournament championship game on four occasions.
In 2004-05, Cal State Northridge finished the year with an overall record of 18-13 (.581) and tied for third in the Big West with a record
12-6 (.667), its best league mark since joining the BWC in 2001. CSUN lost to 18th-ranked Pacific 63-61 in the semifinals of the 2005 Big West Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif.

CSUN began the year with a 2-7 record, but finished 16-6 down the stretch. The opening troubles were partly due to the Matadors’ tough road schedule, in which they played their first seven games of the season away from home, the longest consecutive streak to open a season in school history. Northridge’s home-opener on Dec. 21, 2004, was the latest a CSUN team had ever played its first home game and was the second-latest in the country during the 2004-05 season.

His teams have ranked in the top 25 in steals nationally in all nine seasons, including ranking second in 2004-05 at 11.0 steals per game and have averaged 9.7 spg in his nine years (2,572 steals in 266 games).

His 2004-05 squad ranked fifth in the country in forcing turnovers at 20.0 per game, just above his nine-year average of 19.3 turnovers forced per game (5,122 turnovers in 266 games).

Braswell’s teams have always played a tough non-conference schedule, allowing CSUN to have the toughest strength of schedule in its respective conferences (Big West and Big Sky) in seven of the past nine seasons. Of the 85 nonconference games in the Braswell era, 27 have been road games either as a guarantee game or as part of a tournament from power conferences like the Big 10, the Big 12, Conference USA, the Mountain West, the Pacific-10 and the SEC.

In 2003-04, the Matadors finished 14-16 overall and 7-11 (tied for 5th) in the Big West. Cal State Northridge made an improbable run at the 2004 Big West Conference Tournament championship in Anaheim, Calif.

The Matadors were seeded sixth and beat seventh-seeded Cal State Fullerton 80-70 in the first round at the Anaheim Convention Center.
CSUN then upset third-seeded UC Santa Barbara 61-58 in the quarterfinals.

The Matadors then stunned top-seeded and 21st-ranked Utah State 63-62 in the semifinals. The win over the Aggies was Braswell’s second over a ranked team.

In the finals on ESPN, CSUN fell behind by as many as 19 points to regular season co-champion and second-seeded Pacific before rallying to tie the game with 39 seconds left on a three-pointer by Etoagwara Onyenegecha. Pacific won the championship title 75-73 on a pair of free throws by Miah Davis with 5.1 seconds left.

Braswell recorded a milestone victory during the 2002-03 season when he became the fastest coach in Northridge history to win 100 games with a
64-61 win at San Diego on Dec. 4, 2002. He won his 100th victory in his 181st contest. Pete Cassidy was the former record holder, needing 186 victories to reach the 100-win plateau. The Matadors ended the 2002-03 season with an overall record of 14-15 and a Big West mark of 8-10 (tied for 6th). The Matadors qualified for postseason play for the seventh consecutive season, but lost in overtime in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament to UC Irvine.

The 2001-02 season was a rebuilding year as Northridge lost six players to graduation from the 2000-01 team that went to the NCAA Tournament.
But the upstart Matadors surprised many along the way, finishing their first year in the Big West Conference tied for third place with an 11-7
(.611) league mark. The Matadors qualified for postseason play for the sixth straight season, but lost in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament to Pacific.

Additionally, Northridge posted wins over both defending Big West co-champions, UC Irvine and Utah State. Northridge finished the 2001-02 campaign with an overall record of 12-16 (.429) while posting the Big West’s toughest strength of schedule, ending the season ranking 120th in the nation. It marked the sixth consecutive season that Northridge has had the toughest strength of schedule in its respective conference. On Jan. 1, 2002, and again on Jan. 5, 2002, the Matadors attained a strength of schedule ranking of 9th in the nation, which is the highest in school history. Northridge finished the 2001-02 nonconference slate with a strength of schedule rating of 13th in the country, which is also the highest in school history.

The 2000-01 season was not only Braswell's best with a 22-10 record, but arguably the best season that the Northridge basketball program has ever seen. The season began innocently enough with a 90-73 home victory over Howard on Nov. 19, 2000. But just two days later, history was made, as the Matadors walked into storied Pauley Pavilion and upset the 15th-ranked UCLA Bruins 78-74. The win marked Northridge's first-ever victory over UCLA and its first-ever upset of a nationally ranked team.

Northridge then turned its focus towards winning the 2001 Big Sky Conference regular season title and subsequent tournament championship, earning the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament berth. The dream began on Jan. 4, 2001, with an 89-78 road win at Weber State. The Matadors opened Big Sky play feeling a little pressure, brought on by the fact that they were the unanimous choice to win the league. Northridge would build its Big Sky record to an auspicious start of 4-2. However, Northridge immediately asserted itself as the league favorite, winning the next four games, beginning with a road sweep of Montana State and Montana, a feat rarely done in the Big Sky Conference.

Northridge took its 8-2 record into Pocatello, Idaho, to face an improved Idaho State squad. After the Bengals posted an 89-84 victory, the doubters began to surface. But the Matadors proved they would not be denied, rallying to win their final five regular season games. Included in that stretch was the title-clinching game on the road at Eastern Washington, avenging the Matadors' only home loss of the year.

The Matadors earned the right to host the 2001 Big Sky Conference Tournament by winning the regular-season title with a 13-3 record. After an easy first-round win over Weber State (91-74), Northridge squared off in a nationally televised game with its nemesis, Eastern Washington. The Matadors fulfilled their destiny with a 73-58 victory over the EWU Eagles, earning the Big Sky's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

On Sunday, March 11, 2001, the Matadors gathered for the NCAA Selection Show. It was then that they discovered they were awarded a 13th seed and would face fourth-seeded Kansas in Dayton, Ohio. While the Jayhawks ended Northridge's dream season, handing the Matadors a 99-75 setback in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, one thing stood clear ... CSUN was on the national map.

CSUN finished the 1999-2000 season with a 20-10 record and Braswell became one of the hottest young coaches in America with back-to-back 20-win seasons. Wins at Fresno State and Oregon turned some heads, but they were only the beginning of what this young Division I program would accomplish.
There is a new standard for which Matador basketball teams are measured after Braswell guided CSUN to its first back-to-back 20-win seasons in
21 years (1977-78 and 1978-79) and posted three-straight winning seasons for the first time since the 1984-85 squad accomplished that feat.

Prior to Braswell’s arrival, the Matadors had never had a winning season in NCAA Division I competition (six seasons). CSUN’s best record was
11-17 in 1991-92, which isn’t even better than Braswell’s worst record of 12-16 in 1997-98 and again in 2001-02. Additionally, CSUN’s Division I record was just 54-110 (.329) prior to Braswell taking the helm.

Braswell’s teams qualified for the Big Sky Conference Tournament all five years under his guidance, reaching the finals three times.

The 1998-99 Matadors posted the first winning season in over a decade as CSUN finished the year with a 17-12 record. Northridge completed its third year in the Big Sky with a third-place finish and a 9-7 league mark. CSUN finished the season ranking ninth in the country in scoring at 82.0 points per game.

Braswell has made many changes in the program with seven years under his belt. In 1996-97, the Matadors completed the then-best season in its Division I history, reaching the Big Sky Conference Tournament championship game. Braswell finished his debut season with the Matadors with an overall record of 14-15 (.483) and finished 8-8 (.500, sixth
place) during the regular season of the Matadors’ inaugural campaign in the Big Sky Conference. He guided CSUN to a second-place finish at the
1997 Big Sky Conference Championship.

As the No. 6 seed, the Matadors knocked off No. 3 seeded Montana State (74-56), and then the hosts and top-seeded Northern Arizona (93-84) before losing in the finals to second-seeded Montana (79-82).

Braswell earned his first collegiate win on Nov. 27, 1996, with a 77-57 victory at home over Cal State Dominguez Hills. His first win came just one day after the death of his father, James Braswell, Jr.

Braswell later earned his first victory over an NCAA Division I opponent at Pepperdine on Dec. 19, 1996, by beating the Waves 68-57. The win over Pepperdine also marked his first road win and snapped the Matadors’
17-game road losing streak.

He later won his sixth game of the season (beat Eastern Washington 77-66 on Jan. 4, 1997) on the same day that his brother, Victor Braswell, passed away.
The Matadors finished the 1997-98 season with a 12-16 overall record and a 7-9 slate in the Big Sky (sixth place). Sixth-seeded Northridge also reached the semifinals of the 1998 Big Sky Championship by upsetting No.
3 seed Eastern Washington 104-98 in overtime in the first round.

Braswell has proven that he has the ability to recruit, signing five true freshmen during the early signing period for Cal State Northridge in his first full recruiting class for the Matadors (1997-98).

The 1997-98 recruiting class, included the largest contingency of recruits to ever sign National Letters of Intent to attend CSUN during the early signing period. In all, five true freshmen signed with Northridge during the early period, while the Matadors also received commitments from three four-year transfers and one heralded junior college player. The class was ranked 36th in the country by Bob Gibbons Recruiting Service. It included four guards, four forwards and one center. The class consisted of three high school All-Americans (Carloes Harper, Brian Heinle and Jermar Welch) a top 100 junior college player in 1995-96 (Brian Hagens, Porterville College) and the sixth-best center in the junior college ranks during the 1996-97 season (Jabari Simmons, Compton College).

Braswell has an extensive background in coaching and recruiting. He served as the top assistant at the University of Oregon under head coach Jerry Green for four seasons (1992-93 to 1995-96). An accomplished recruiter, Braswell honed his coaching skills while with Green and was highly involved in all aspects of the Oregon program while serving as the recruiting coordinator.

On the strength of the talent that Braswell recruited for the Ducks, Oregon finished fourth in the Pac-10 in 1994-95, compiled a 19-9 overall record and made the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 34 years recording the first 19-win season in 18 years of Oregon basketball. Oregon compiled its second-consecutive winning season in
1995-96 with a 17-13 overall record, the first back-to-back winning seasons at Oregon since 1986-87 and 1987-88 when the Ducks posted identical records of 16-14.

His 1995-96 recruiting class ranked 35th in the country by Blue Star Index, and thanks in part to Braswell, the Ducks signed two Top 100 players as a part of the 1996-97 class that ranked among the Top 25 recruiting classes in the country.

Prior to his arrival at Oregon, Braswell spent three seasons as an assistant at Long Beach State (1989-90 to 1991-92). He helped the 49ers advance to two postseason appearances in the National Invitational Tournament. Due in part to his recruiting efforts, the 49ers advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 16 years, posting a 22-10 record in 1992-93. Long Beach State compiled a 52-38 mark during Braswell’s three seasons with the 49ers, including a 23-9 record in 1989-90.

Braswell got his start in the high school ranks before earning his first coaching stint at the collegiate level as an assistant at Long Beach.

As the head coach of Cleveland High School in Los Angeles (1985-86 to 1988-89), Braswell won two Valley League titles and was twice named Coach of the Year. In his first two seasons, he guided unheralded teams to the City Section championship game. His teams were traditionally ranked among the top teams in the nation.

Several of his players at Cleveland High earned NCAA Division I scholarships with six of them going on to Pacific-10 schools. A few of his more notable protégés are former collegians Eddie Hill of Washington State; Adonis Jordan of Kansas; Lucious Harris of Long Beach State and currently the Cleveland Cavaliers; Trevor Wilson of UCLA and formerly of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Matadors’ former all-time leading scorer and former Northridge assistant coach, Andre Chevalier.

Braswell was instrumental in building Northridge's first-ever team room and locker room. The locker room is equipped with individual wood lockers with engraved name plates, wall-to-wall carpeting, a player’s lounge, and a big-screen television and VCR equipped with a hi-fi stereo system and a PlayStation 2.

The team room was made possible by private donations, with the majority being funded by two of Braswell’s former players, Harris and Bryon Russell (currently of the Denver Nuggets). Harris played for Braswell at Cleveland High School when he was the head coach and then later at Long Beach State where Braswell served as an assistant coach. While assisting the 49ers, he recruited Russell. They have kept in contact ever since.
“All of my former players are like family to me,” Braswell says. “I love them all dearly. I really appreciate the fact that these two young men stepped up and helped us build a team room. It’s just the kind of people they are and we’re honored to have them in our family.”

Braswell is a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches
(NABC) and the Black Coaches Association (BCA). He is also an active member of the community, especially within his church, Shepherd of the Hills, and as a member of the Board of Directors at the local YMCA.

Braswell earned his bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in African-American Studies from Cal State Northridge in 1985. He and his wife, Penny, reside in Northridge with their three children, Jeffrey, Christopher and Kyndal.