Michael Jerome Bernard[1] (born November 8, 1948) is an American former basketball coach and player. He played college basketball at Kentucky State. He was selected in the 1970 NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals.

Michael Bernard
Biographical details
Born (1948-11-08) November 8, 1948 (age 76)
Brockton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Playing career
1966–1970Kentucky State
1970–1972Wilmington Blue Bonnets
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1974–1976Kentucky State (assistant)
1978–1984Norfolk State (assistant)
1985–1991North Carolina Central
1991–1998Norfolk State
1998–2002Fayetteville State
2002–2005Shaw
2006–2009Delaware State (assistant)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2009–2012Delaware State (director of basketball operations)
Head coaching record
Overall371–230 (.617)
Tournaments12–5 (.706) (NCAA Division II)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
As player:

As head coach:

As assistant coach:

  • MEAC regular season (2007)
Awards
  • Kodak Division II Coach of the Year (1989)

Early life, education, and playing career

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Born and raised in Brockton, Massachusetts, Bernard graduated from Brockton High School in 1964.[1] Bernard played college basketball at Kentucky State, graduating in 1970, the year Kentucky State won the NAIA national championship.[2][3] In the 1970 NBA draft, the Cincinnati Royals selected Bernard in the seventh round, 107th overall.[4] Bernard played professionally for the Wilmington Blue Bonnets of the Eastern Basketball Association from 1970 to 1972.[3]

Bernard studied political science at Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University) during the 1976–77 school year.[5]

Coaching career

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Returning to Kentucky State, Bernard began his coaching career in 1974 as an assistant coach. After two seasons at Kentucky State, Bernard was an assistant coach at Norfolk State, then in NCAA Division II, from 1978 to 1984.[3]

In 1985, Bernard got his first head coaching position at North Carolina Central, a Division II school at the time.[6] Accumulating a 115–56 record, Bernard was head coach at North Carolina Central from 1985 to 1991. Bernard led the Eagles to a 28–4 record and NCAA Division II national championship in the 1988–89 season, for which he was named Division II Coach of the Year by Kodak.[3]

Bernard was then head coach at Norfolk State from 1991 to 1998, going 141–67 in seven seasons.[6] Under Bernard, Norfolk State made two deep runs in the NCAA Division II Tournament, qualifying for the Final Four in 1994 and Elite Eight in 1995.[3] Bernard's final season at Norfolk State was in 1997–98, when the team went 6–21 in the school's first season at the Division I level.[6]

From 1998 to 2002, Bernard was head coach at Division II Fayetteville State, going 65–44 in four seasons. However, in August 2002, the Fayetteville Observer reported that Bernard falsely claimed in his résumé to have completed a master's degree at Clark Atlanta, leading Fayetteville State to start an investigation.[5] On August 8, the day the Observer story was published, Fayetteville State decided to fire Bernard.[7]

Bernard became head coach at Shaw on September 9, 2002, days after the resignation of Joel Hopkins.[8]

He was an assistant coach at Delaware State under head coach Greg Jackson from 2006 to 2009.[2] Then from 2009 to 2012, he served as director of basketball operations on Jackson's staff.[2]

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
North Carolina Central Eagles (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1985–1991)
1985–86 North Carolina Central 14–12 8–4[9]
1986–87 North Carolina Central 15–13[6]
1987–88 North Carolina Central 26–3 18–1[10] NCAA Division II second round
1988–89 North Carolina Central 28–4 14–3[11] NCAA Division II champions
1989–90 North Carolina Central 23–5 16–3[12] NCAA Division II second round
1990–91 North Carolina Central 9–19 7–12[13]
North Carolina Central: 115–56 (.673)
Norfolk State Spartans (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1991–1997)
1991–92 Norfolk State 22–10 14–5 2nd (North)[14] NCAA Division II first round
1992–93 Norfolk State 19–10 11–8 3rd (North)[14]
1993–94 Norfolk State 27–6 15–4 2nd (North)[14] NCAA Division II Elite Eight
1994–95 Norfolk State 27–6 16–3 T–1st (North)[14] NCAA Division II Final Four
1995–96 Norfolk State 23–4 14–3 2nd (North)[14]
1996–97 Norfolk State 17–10 11–6 3rd (North)[14]
Norfolk State Spartans (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) (1997–1998)
1997–98 Norfolk State 6–21 0–0
Norfolk State: 141–67 (.678) 87–50 (.635)
Fayetteville State Broncos (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1998–2002)
1998–99 Fayetteville State 13–12 8–8 4th (Western)[15]
1999–2000 Fayetteville State 16–11 8–8 4th (Western)[16]
2000–01 Fayetteville State 15–11 7–9 T–3rd (Western)[17]
2001–02 Fayetteville State 17–8 11–5 3rd (Western)[18]
Fayetteville State: 75–61 (.551) 34–30 (.531)
Shaw Bears (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (2002–2005)
2002–03 Shaw 21–9 11–5 T–2nd (Eastern)[19]
2003–04 Shaw 12–16 8–8 T–3rd (Eastern)[20]
2004–05 Shaw 7–21 5–11 4th (Eastern)[21]
Shaw: 40–46 (.465) 24–24 (.500)
Total: 371–230 (.617)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

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  1. ^ a b "Brockton High School Yearbook". 1964.
  2. ^ a b c "Mike Bernard". Delaware State University. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Mike Bernard". Delaware State University. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  4. ^ "1970 NBA draft".
  5. ^ a b Friedlander, Brett (August 8, 2002). "FSU reviews coach's resume". Fayetteville Observer. Retrieved January 19, 2021 – via Newsbank.
  6. ^ a b c d "NCAA Statistics".
  7. ^ Friedlander, Brett (August 9, 2002). "FSU to fire basketball coach". Fayetteville Observer. Retrieved January 19, 2021 – via Newsbank.
  8. ^ "Benard". web.archive.org. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
  9. ^ "NCAA Statistics".
  10. ^ "NCAA Statistics".
  11. ^ "NCAA Statistics".
  12. ^ "NCAA Statistics".
  13. ^ "NCAA Statistics".
  14. ^ a b c d e f "Norfolk State University Men's Basketball Records" (PDF). Norfolk State University. p. 30. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  15. ^ "CIAA Final Conference Standings". CIAA. March 6, 1999. Archived from the original on October 12, 1999. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  16. ^ "Central Intercollegiate Athletic Assn. 1999-00 Conference Standings". CIAA. March 10, 2000. Archived from the original on August 18, 2000. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  17. ^ "Central Intercollegiate Athletic Assoc. 2000-01 Men's Basketball Conference Standings". CIAA. February 24, 2001. Archived from the original on April 18, 2001. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  18. ^ "Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association 2001-02 Men's Basketball Conference Standings". CIAA. February 23, 2002. Archived from the original on June 9, 2002. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  19. ^ "Central Intercollegiate Athletic Assoc. 2002-03 FINAL Men's Basketball Conference Standings". CIAA. April 1, 2003. Archived from the original on June 1, 2003. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  20. ^ "Central Intercollegiate Athletic Assoc. 2003-04 FINAL Men's Basketball Conference Standings". CIAA. March 24, 2004. Archived from the original on July 2, 2004. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  21. ^ "Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association 2004-05 Men's Basketball Conference Standings". CIAA. March 26, 2005. Archived from the original on August 24, 2005. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
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