Chapman College Will Name Boyd as Basketball Coach Today

Bob Boyd, who coached some of USC’s best teams, will be named basketball coach at Chapman College today, athletic department sources said Monday.

A news conference has tentatively been scheduled for 1 p.m.

Boyd, who was the interim coach at Riverside Community College this season, will replace Rich Prospero, the Panthers’ interim coach. Prospero replaced Kevin Wilson, who was fired in November.

“We should have it locked up Tuesday,” Athletic Director Walt Bowman said. “All we need to do is contact the candidate (Monday) to finalize it.”

Bowman declined to comment on whether Boyd was the candidate.

However, an athletic department official said that Boyd and school officials had reached an agreement.

Last season, Boyd replaced Riverside Coach Dave Waxman, who took a one-year sabbatical. Under Boyd, the Tigers finished with a 27-9 record, were first in the Orange Empire Conference and reached the third round of the state playoffs, where they lost to El Camino.

Boyd coached at USC from 1966-79, compiling a 216-107 record. However, most of Boyd’s career at USC coincided with John Wooden’s career at UCLA. The Bruins won 10 National Collegiate Athletic Assn. titles in 12 years.

Although he never won a conference championship at USC, he did guide the Trojans to the NCAA tournament in 1979 and the National Invitation Tournament in 1973.

Boyd has also coached at Santa Ana College, now Rancho Santiago, Seattle University and Mississippi State. He has a 462-307 record in 27 years.