The Events Center was bouncing with noise one brisk Saturday last fall as the men’s basketball team practiced under its new head coach, Kevin Broadus.

After the drills ended, Broadus, the new face of the program and a first time head coach at 43, talked about the experiences and people who have impacted and shaped who he is, and his contribution to the game.

Broadus grew up in Washington, D.C. — known, he says, as a basketball city. He started playing in junior high.

“Being a kid in D.C., there were three places to go: the basketball courts, a boys club or the streets,” Broadus said. “I knew that to go to college, it was basketball that was going to get me there.”

Playing at Bowie State, Broadus thought he would continue basketball after college as a player. He never thought he’d one day be a coach.

A Life of Opportunity, Value and Admiration

With a degree in business administration, Broadus owned a hair salon in D.C. with his wife, Belinda. A phone call in 1990 changed it all, when he was offered a job as an assistant coach at his old stomping grounds.

It was an opportunity Broadus couldn’t resist.

“To have the chance to go back to my alma mater, travel with the team and see players I use to play against,” he said. “I loved it.”

It was a big break for, Broadus, who, from an early age, faced the worst of times. His mother passed away when he was 8 years old.

“I lost my mother and thought ‘Why me?’” he said. “My father told me I had to grow up and be a man.”

Broadus admires his father and uncle, both of whom raised him.

“My father got up at 5 a.m. every day to work in construction. My uncle really raised me. He was a provider and put food on the table,” Broadus said. “They showed me the value of life.”

Another man Broadus admires is former boxer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali.

“To see an athlete with that type of gift, to be able to take a beating and work so hard, as he did, to do what he did is amazing,” he said.

Broadus likens Ali’s traits in the ring to what he looks for in a player on the court.

“I like aggressive players. I look for offensive players,” Broadus said. “You can teach an offensive player to play defense, but you cannot teach a non-offensive player to play offensive”

Chasing a Dream

After leaving Bowie State in 1993, Broadus coached at several other colleges before arriving at George Washington University in 2001.

During Broadus’s three-year run at George Washington, his father lost his battle with cancer.

The loss devastated him. “I couldn’t focus, but the people at GW, the coaches, like [head coach] Karl Hobbs, the players, were all supportive and helped me get through it.”

In 2004, Broadus left GW to join the coaching staff of crosstown rival, Georgetown University.

In his tenure at Georgetown, Broadus experienced something many coaches only dream of: a trip to the NCAA Final Four. Broadus received three rings, given to him by the NCAA and Georgetown, which he wears proudly and calls his favorite possessions.

But one moment stood above all the rest during the March 2007 tournament.

“When I was walking out to the court for a game, someone in the stands turns to me and said, ‘Coach Broadus, I can’t wait to see you at Binghamton,’” he said. “The players went nuts. I will never forget that.”

A Place To Call Home

That experience was not his proudest moment though. Officially being named head coach of Binghamton University on March 26, 2007, was.

“I got that call asking if I wanted the position, and after the many years of hard work, always being an assistant coach, to finally be a head coach,” he said of jumping at the chance of a lifetime.

It was a move he didn’t expect.

“I had no clue I would be sitting here [Binghamton’s Events Center] right now, trying to win the America East,” he said. “I take things in life as they come.”

So far, Broadus has been a success. The respect the players give him is obvious.

“I gain respect by looking them in the eye and telling them the truth. I can’t lie to a player,” Broadus said. “At the end of the day, lies come back to haunt you.”

As that Saturday practice began last fall, and players started warming up, the Events Center sounded as if it were packed with fans and a game was about to start. But the instant Broadus stepped onto the court, someone hit the mute button. The players lined up on the baseline, and with the wave of Broadus’s hand, they quietly surrounded him.

Assistant coach Julius Allen describes Broadus as a smooth brother and a treat to work for.

“The man knows how to make an entrance,” Allen said. “He has goals and is focused on achieving them. The players know what is expected from them.”

Giovanni Olomo, a senior on the team, says Broadus is a people person: “He is very open and approachable.”

Three-for-one: A coach, mentor and comedian

Broadus said he’s here to teach his team about life. “I will talk to them about anything — family, girlfriends, etc.” he said. “The only thing I will not talk to them about is playing time. They have to earn that and show me they deserve to play.”

Some players say Broadus thinks of himself as a comedian.

“We laugh at all his jokes, even the bad ones,” one player said.

Broadus says he likes to take the edge off by having some fun with his players. “We are all humans, and I like to show them that I am a person too, and not just a coach.”

In fact, Broadus believes he is the same person on and off the court.

“I ask my players to work, and I get the point across without being someone else,” Broadus says. “I believe that there shouldn’t be a person and a coach personality.”

Broadus says that next to his family, basketball is what he is most passionate about. As for coaching, he can’t imagine doing anything else.

“It is hard to be passionate about something other than basketball, because I love spending time recruiting, practice, traveling, etc.,” he said.

As for his family, Broadus says they are adjusting to the move. Even though it’s been hard, he says the community has been welcoming.

And for the basketball program, Broadus has only one thing to say: “I want to have some banners in the Events Center. There is nothing in here right now, and I want to hang the banners. I want to make this successful.”

At 2:30 p.m. Saturday, his Bearcats can get one step closer to making their coach’s wish come true this season.