Randy Bolden enters his fourth season as the head coach for the Mississippi College men's basketball team. He was named the 13th head coach in Mississippi College men's basketball history on April 8, 2021. During his tenure, Bolden has led the Choctaws to significant achievements, including a standout 2022-23 season where the team won 15 games overall and 11 conference matchups, securing their first trip to the Gulf South Conference (GSC) Tournament since the 1995-96 season. That year, he also coached Galen Smith to earn 2nd Team All-GSC honors at center.
In the 2023-24 season, Bolden guided his son, Rashad Bolden, to an exceptional All-GSC season. Rashad was named to the 1st Team All-GSC after finishing second in the country in scoring, averaging 24.5 points per game and totaling 685 points on the season. He started all 28 games, leading the team with 130 assists (4.6 per game) while playing an average of 38.4 minutes per game. Rashad was also named to the NABC South All-District 2nd Team, further cementing his status as one of the top players in the nation.
Prior to joining Mississippi College, Randy Bolden served as the head coach at Jones College for four years, where he led the Bobcats to a 59-31 record. His tenure included back-to-back 20-win seasons, a South Division championship, and a conference runner-up finish in 2018-19. The Bobcats also finished as NJCAA Region 23 Runners-Up in 2019-20. During his first three years at Jones College, 17 players signed to play at the four-year level, including at institutions like Georgetown, Louisiana, and Southern Miss.
Before his time at Jones College, Bolden was an assistant coach at Hinds Community College for one season and had a highly successful coaching career at Meridian High School from 2007-16. At Meridian, he guided the Wildcats to a combined 227-55 record, a 2011 MHSAA 6A State Championship with a 29-2 overall record, and back-to-back South State crowns in 2010 and 2011. He also served as the North/South All-Star Game head coach during the record-setting 2011 season.
Bolden's coaching journey began at Pearl High School from 2004-07, followed by a stint as an assistant coach at Jackson Provine High School from 2002-04.
As a player, Bolden had an illustrious collegiate career at Texas Southern from 1994-98, where he was named the Southwest Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and a two-time SWAC Player of the Year as a junior and senior. He finished in the Top 10 in scoring nationally twice and helped lead Texas Southern to the NCAA Tournament in 1995, where the Tigers nearly upset the defending national champion Arkansas, losing narrowly by 79-78.
After graduating from Texas Southern in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology, Bolden played professional basketball from 1998-2002 in Iceland, Brazil, and Canada before transitioning to a coaching career. He later earned his master's degree in health, physical education, and recreation from Jackson State University.
