Sports

Boldon Takes Over Ohio Women’s Basketball


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Ohio Athletics announced that Bob Boldon is the new head coach of the women's basketball team in a press conference Thursday. Boldon is the 10th head coach in school history.

"This is indeed a great time to be a Bobcat," Ohio athletic director Jim Schaus said. "It's a great time to usher in a new era for women's basketball. To bring on a new leader with great experience and skill and great passion for what he does."

Boldon, 37, comes from Youngstown State, where he took over a team in 2010 that was 0-30 the season before. The Penguins finished the 2012-13 season 23-10 with a win in the first round of the WNIT, and Boldon was awarded Horizon League Coach of the Year honors.

"Every place that he has been, he has either built programs or had significant success," Schaus said. "Every place he has been, he has made them better. And I don't think that's a coincidence."

Bodon has 16 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level. He has made several stops as an assistant, including a two-year stint with Akron form 2006-2008, and has head coaching experience at the Division II and NAIA levels.

"I think this is a great opportunity," Boldon said. "I think it's a great university, a very proud athletic university. I'm very excited to be a part of that and hopefully do my job to continue the traditions and not only move the women's basketball program forward but to help move the entire athletic department in the direction that it's going."

Boldon takes over an Ohio team that finished the 2012-13 season 6-23 with just one win in the Mid-American Conference. The Bobcats finished last season near the bottom of the conference ranks in several offensive categories — 10th in scoring offense, last in field goal percentage — but Ohio is expected to return its top three scorers in Erin Bailes, Shavon Robinson and Kiyanna Black for the 2013-14 season.

Boldon said he will try to install a motion offense system based more on player skill sets than position-based formations.

"We try to teach our kids to play basketball," he said. "The next step as a coaching staff is to put those kids in position to use their ability as best they can."

Boldon emphasized fundamentals, shot selection and points per possession as building blocks for developing Ohio into a MAC contender.

Ohio University president Roderick McDavis praised Boldon's track record with underachieving teams, mentioning two times during the press conference that Boldon "has won wherever he has been with an exciting offensive style of play."

Boldon's defense can also be credited for his success. Last season, Youngstown State boasted the second-best scoring defense in the Horizon League, holding opponents to less than 58 points per game on the way to a second-place finish in the conference.

"The most important variable is just getting kids to play together," Boldon said. "It's a matter of getting kids to believe in what they're doing and in each other. It's probably as important as any offensive or defensive scheme."

Boldon is a Louisville native and 1997 graduate of Walsh University. His four-year playing career at Walsh is highlighted by an NAIA Final Four Appearance and two All-America selections. He holds the school record for assists (775) and ranks fourth in program history in scoring with 1,694 points. Boldon has a master's liberal studies from Indiana University.