Texas Southern is mourning the loss of one of their most famous coaches.
Robert “Bob” Moreland, the Tigers’ men’s basketball program’s all-time wins leader, died Monday, the school announced Tuesday afternoon. He was 85 years old.
The @TexasSouthern family lost a legend as former head men’s basketball coach and professor Robert “Bob” Moreland passed away on Monday. The all-time winningest head coach in TSU history with 406 wins, Moreland served as TSU’s head men’s basketball coach from 1975-2001 & 2007-08. pic.twitter.com/niv6FNmLvG
— Texas Southern University (TSU) Athletics (@TXSOTigers) July 30, 2024
A 1962 grad of Tougaloo, Moreland won 406 games at Texas Southern and seven SWAC regular-season championships in two stints with the team, first from 1975-2001 and again during the 2007-2008 season.
Moreland’s Tigers made three NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament appearances (1990, 1994, and 1995), but their biggest achievement was the 1977 NAIA national championship.
Texas Southern was the fifth seed in the top-tier region that season. They defeated Central State, Wisconsin-Parkside, East Texas State, and Grand Valley State to reach the championship game, where they handled Campbell easily 71-44. That was Texas Southern’s last NAIA game, as the SWAC became an NCAA Division I institution beginning with the 1977-78 season.
Moreland led Texas Southern to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 1990, defeating bitter rival (and top seed) Southern 94-89 in the SWAC title game. The Tigers went on to face Georgetown, led by Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo, in the NCAA tournament, 70-52.
