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Braves fire head coach Geno Ford

In March 2011, Geno Ford introduced himself to the Bradley community by saying how excited he was to work at a school with a passionate fan base, exceptional facilities and academic excellence.

Now, four years later and with the fan interest waning, Bradley has cut ties with the 40-year-old coach, according to reports from ESPN and Dave Reynolds of the Peoria Journal Star that the university has since confirmed.

Ford came to the Hilltop after spending three seasons as the head coach at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Ford won 68 games in three seasons with the university and made a postseason tournament each of his three seasons with the Golden Flashes, culminating in a run to the NIT Quarterfinals in 2010-2011, his final season.

Bradley athletics director Chris Reynolds praised Bradley’s now-former coach in a statement released to the press.

“We appreciate the contributions of Coach Ford during his four years of leading our men’s basketball program and wish him nothing but the best,” said Reynolds.

Prior to Ford’s arrival, Bradley had tallied four consecutive 20+ win seasons and five seasons in a row with a winning record. The team went 12-20 the year before Ford was hired. Since Ford’s arrival on the Hilltop, the Braves have had just one winning season in four years, twice failing to reach double-digit wins.

Photo by Dan Smith
Photo by Dan Smith

Bradley’s hiring of Ford was not without controversy. In July 2013, an Ohio judge awarded Kent State $1.2 million in damages because the judge ruled Ford breached his contract when he left the school. The judge said that while Kent State had given Bradley permission to speak to Ford, he had not been released from his contract.

In addition to the lawsuit against Ford, Kent State at one point was suing Bradley as well. The lawsuit against Bradley was dropped in September of 2013, with former athletic director Michael Cross saying at the time “Our actions during the hiring of Coach Ford, just like the hiring of all our staff members, were ethical, legal and transparent.”

However, Kent State disagreed with that statement. In an email sent to Crain’s Cleveland Business the same month the lawsuit against Bradley was dropped, Kent State confirmed the dismissal of the lawsuit against Bradley but noted they could “seek recovery” in the event Ford himself is unable to pay the amount required.

Ford appealed the 2013 ruling but an Ohio appeals court upheld it in January of this year.

In the early 1990s, Ford attended high school in Cambridge, Ohio and played basketball under his father Gene Ford. By his graduation, Ford had tallied 2,680 career points, good for third all-time in the state of Ohio. Luke Kennard, a Duke commit, passed Ford earlier this year.

Ford enrolled in Ohio University in 1993 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in organizational communication in 1997. After one season overseas in England, Ford returned to the Bobcats in 1998 as a graduate assistant. He would be promoted to assistant coach in 1999.

Ford stayed in Athens, Ohio until 2001, when he took over Shawnee State, an NAIA school. He was named the conference coach of the year after leading the Bears to a 22-10 record.

Ford joined Kent State as an assistant for three seasons before departing for Muskingum in 2005. After two years and 29 wins, Ford returned to Kent State as an assistant for one season before being promoted to head coach in 2008.

2 Comments

  1. doug greenberg doug greenberg March 23, 2015

    i hope they look at Brad Soderberg. He led Wisconsin to the ncaa tournament as the interim HC. He was ousted in a power struggle at St. Louis (including after having a 20 win season), and now he is already has the most wins in Lindenwood Univeristy history. You cannot go wrong with the Dick Bennett coaching tree.

  2. Troy Burns Troy Burns March 26, 2015

    Past assistants of Dick Bennett should definitely get a look, winners all the way. His son isn’t doing too bad either.

Comments are closed.

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