The Texas Southern University family, and HBCU basketball, lost a legend as former head men’s basketball coach and professor Robert 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 in addition to a one-year stint during the 2007-08 campaign.
A SWAC Hall of Famer and recently named TSU Hall of Famer, Moreland guided TSU to six 20-win seasons, one 30-win season, five SWAC conference championships, two SWAC co-championships, and three conference tournament championships. He also won five SWAC Coach of the Year honors and was named American Wire Service 1994 National Coach of the Year and was crowned the 1994 and 1995 American Wire Service National Black College Champion. He also coached three national scoring champions in Harry Kelly (2-times) and current Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Kevin Granger. Moreland also recruited a plethora of all-time greats in TSU basketball history as the all-time TSU career leaders in scoring, three-pointers, steals, assists, rebounds and blocked shots were recruited by Moreland.
Moreland, a native of Utica, Miss., led the HBCU to the highest of heights on the hardwood as he won an NAIA National Championship in 1977 and led TSU to its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament in 1990 along with two other tournament appearances in 1994 and 1995.
Moreland started his coaching career at Greer High School in Carthage, Miss., where he coached from 1962 to 1963. The following year he moved to Utica Junior College in Utica, Miss., and made an immediate impact as he won 78 percent of his games over a 12-year period which saw him win 20-plus games during a 10-year stretch.
Upon his retirement from coaching, Moreland remained at Texas Southern University as a professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology.
Robert Moreland earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education from HBCU Tougaloo College (1962) and his Master’s (1969) and Doctorate (1972) Degrees from the University of Indiana. Along with his SWAC Hall of Fame Honor, Moreland received the “SWAC Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement Award” for contributions to the Southwestern Athletic Conference in 2009. He is also a member of the Tougaloo University and Hines Community College Hall of Fames. In 2010, TSU officially named its basketball court inside the H&PE Arena after Moreland.