Tim Floyd

College coach infobox


Name = Tim Floyd
Sport = Basketball
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DateOfBirth = birth date and age|1954|2|25
Birthplace = Hattiesburg, MS, U.S.
DateOfDeath =
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College = USC
Title = Head coach
Awards =
Championships = Big 8 Tournament Championship (1996)
Sun Belt Regular Season Championship (1993)
American South Tournament Championship (1990)
American South Regular Season Championship (1989, 1990, 1991)
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Player =
Years =
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Position =
Coach = *
CoachYears = 1976–1977
1977–1986
1986–1988
1988–1994
1994–1998
1998–2001
2003–2004
2005–present
CoachTeams = Louisiana Tech(asst.)
UTEP (asst.)
Idaho
New Orleans
Iowa State
Chicago Bulls
New Orleans Hornets
USC
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BBallHOF =

Tim Floyd (born February 25, 1954) is the current head coach of the University of Southern California men's college basketball team. Floyd is also a former head coach of several teams in both the NCAA and the NBA. Floyd is best known as the coach of the Bulls after Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman left the team.

Personal life

Born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Floyd is a 1977 graduate of Louisiana Tech University. He earned a bachelor's of science degree in health and physical education from Louisiana Tech. He originally was a walk on player at The University of Southern Mississippi, but he transferred to Louisiana Tech and was a scholarship player there.

Floyd and wife Beverly have one daughter, Shannon.

Coaching career

University of Texas at El Paso

Floyd's first coaching job was as an assistant at UTEP under Hall of Famer Don Haskins from 1977 to 1986. While Floyd was at UTEP, the Miners went to three straight NCAA Tournaments (from 1984 to 1986). They also went to the NIT three times (in 1980, 1981, and 1983), and UTEP won four Western Athletic Conference championships in those years.

University of Idaho

Tim Floyd's first assignment as a head coach came at the University of Idaho, succeeding the disappointing Bill Trumbo, who finished last in the Big Sky conference in each of his three seasons. Floyd coached the Vandals for two years. In his first season, the Vandals posted their first winning record since Don Monson left for Oregon after the 20-9 1983 season.

University of New Orleans

At the University of New Orleans, Floyd tallied a 127-58 mark in six seasons as head coach. During his tenure, UNO advanced to postseason play five times, including two NCAA Tournament appearances in 1991 and 1993 and the NIT three times. At UNO, Floyd averaged 21 wins a season. Floyd is one of only four Division I coaches who have won four conference championships in the first five years at their school. In his final season at New Orleans in 1994, the team finished 20-10. Floyd reached the 20-win plateau for the sixth time in eight seasons, and UNO made its seventh postseason appearance in eight years.

Iowa State University

Floyd was hired at Iowa State University in May 1994 as the 15th basketball coach in ISU history. In his four years at ISU, Floyd posted an 81-49 record. He is the only coach in Iowa State history to post three consecutive 20-win seasons, which in part, earned him a nickname among the NCAA nation (mostly top NCAA coaches) as "Timothy The Great". He also led the team to three straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament and three straight first-round victories.

In his first season with the Cyclones, Floyd guided the team to a then-school-record 23 victories and the second round of the NCAA Tournament. During that season, the Cyclones were ranked in the AP Top 25 poll for 11 consecutive weeks, peaking at number eleven. Four of the eleven ISU losses were to 1995 NCAA Final Four teams. The Cyclones returned to the Big Eight Conference Tournament championship for the first time since 1986. In that year, Fred Hoiberg became the first Cyclone to earn All-American honors since Jeff Grayer in 1988.

Picked in preseason polls to finish last in the Big Eight, the 1995-96 Cyclones finished second in the league with a 9-5 mark and won Big Eight Conference Tournament with a win over the Kansas Jayhawks, then ranked the number five team in the nation. The Cyclones received the highest NCAA Tournament seed in school history. As the number five seed, the Cyclones defeated California Bears but lost to Utah Utes, then coached by Rick Majerus (who, in 2004, accepted and immediately resigned from the USC head coaching job that went to Floyd). Iowa State's 24 victories that season was a school record. For his coaching efforts, Floyd was named Big Eight Coach of the Year and runner-up to Gene Keady of Purdue University for AP National Coach of the Year.

In the 1996-1997 season, Floyd and the Cyclones posted a 22-9 mark and advanced to their first NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance in 11 years. In the NCAA Tournament, the sixth-seeded Cyclones defeated the Illinois State Redbirds in the first round and the Cincinnati Bearcats before losing to UCLA Bruins in overtime.

While at Iowa State, Floyd coached future pros Dedric Willoughby, Fred Hoiberg,Kelvin Cato, Marcus Fizer and Paul Shirley.

Chicago Bulls

On July 23, 1998, Floyd was hired head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the NBA. In his first season with the Bulls, the lockout season of 1998-1999, the team posted a record of 13-37. The next season, the Bulls had a 17-65 record. The team continued to regress, posting a 15-67 record in the 2000-2001 season. His fourth year as coach was marred by fights with players and management. Floyd resigned on December 24, 2001 after a 4-21 start.

In his four seasons with the Bulls, Floyd posted a record of 49-190. The team did not make the NBA Playoffs in any of those years. Known as Jerry Krause's boy by the Chicago media, an entertaining press conference had Floyd proclaim [I'm not] "Jerry's boy." ["Pity for Bulls' departed Pink Floyd? You must be kidding", The State Journal-Register, Springfield, IL, Dec. 26, 2001.]

New Orleans Hornets

As head coach of the New Orleans Hornets in 2003-2004, Floyd posted a 41-41 record, despite the mid-season loss of Hornets star Jamal Mashburn. The Hornets lost in the first round of the playoffs, taking the Miami Heat the full seven games. Ownership was dissatisfied and dismissed Floyd after just one season.

Floyd ended his NBA career with a 93-235 overall record, including the playoffs, admitting in interviews that, as an NBA coach, "I wasn't very good at it".T.J. Simers, [http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/usc/la-sp-simers24jan24,1,6315915,full.column?coll=la-headlines-sports-coll-usc There's no bull in Floyd's retooling of the Trojans] , "Los Angeles Times", January 24, 2007.]

University of Southern California

On January 14, 2005, Floyd was hired as head coach of the USC Trojans, replacing interim coach Jim Saia. Floyd's tenure coincided with the opening of the Galen Center opened in Fall of 2006. Floyd's initial season may be regarded as a success. The 2005-2006 Trojans finished the regular season with a 17-12 (8-10) record and sixth place in the Pacific 10 Conference ("Pac-10"), including three conference losses by a combined nine points. Floyd was the subject of heightened media attention in October of 2006, when 14-year-old high school freshman Dwayne Polee Jr., son of former NBA player Dwayne Polee, verbally accepted a scholarship offer from Floyd. Polee had yet to play in a high school basketball game.

For the 2006-2007 season, Floyd led the Trojans to a 25-12 (13-8) record (most wins in school history) and third place in the Pacific 10 Conference ("Pac-10"). He also led this team to finals of the Pacific Life Pac-10 Tournament, where they lost to Oregon. Floyd took the Trojans to the 2007 NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16, only the second USC team to do so since 1979. However, USC lost to number one seeded UNC on March 23, 2007.

In the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Floyd's #6 seeded Trojans fell 80-67 to the #11 seed Kansas State Wildcats in the first round.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.nba.com/coachfile/tim_floyd/index.html NBA.com Profile]
* [http://usctrojans.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/011405aab.html USC press release about his hiring there]