The University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff announced the hiring of Little Rock native Solomon Bozeman as the school's next men's basketball coach Friday afternoon.
Bozeman, 33, comes to the Golden Lions following three season as an assistant coach at Oral Roberts.
He will introduced in a news conference at 11 a.m. Tuesday at UAPB's STEM Conference Center.
Bozeman's hiring fills the head coaching position that had been vacant since George Ivory announced his retirement on April 7 following 13 seasons in charge of the Golden Lions' program. Bozeman was selected by a search committee that included vice chancellor of enrollment management and student success Braque Talley, athletic administrator Betty Hayes-Anthony and former Golden Lion student-athletes Jesse Mason Jr., Tanuya Worthy and Antonio Moore.
Bozeman comes to UAPB with seven years of experience on the sidelines from assistant roles at Abilene Christian (2014-16), the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (2016-18) and Oral Roberts, which reached the Sweet 16 in 2021 where the Golden Eagles were defeated by the University of Arkansas.
He starred at Magnolia High School and spent two seasons at South Florida before transferring to UALR. Bozeman spent two seasons with the Trojans, scoring 16.6 points per game in 2010-11 while leading UALR to a Sun Belt Conference title and a fourth-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. He was awarded Sun Belt Player of the Year for his performance and earned honorable mention All-America honors from The Associated Press.
Bozeman played for seven teams, including the NBA's Development League and overseas, during his professional career from 2011-14.
Bozeman takes over a Golden Lions program that has not had a winning season since 2012-13 and lost key players including Shaun Doss Jr. and Markedric Bell to tthe transfer portal this offseason.