A former Division I basketball standout at Oklahoma and Boston College, Michael Cotton joined Kevin Baggett's coaching staff on July 1, 2012 and comes to Rider for the 2012-13 season from a four-year coaching stint at Bucknell University.
"We are fortunate to have Coach Cotton join our program," said Baggett of the hiring. "He has a passion and energy for the game that will help elevate us to new levels. A competitive spirit combined with a formula for academic success is what Mike brings to our staff and I am excited and eager to work with him."
Cotton's duties include off-campus recruiting, guard development, game scouting, and practice and game coaching.
"Coach Baggett is well respected and has a great reputation within the national basketball community. I am eager to learn from and work with him and the rest of the staff to assist in the academic and athletic success of our student-athletes. It's exciting to be a part of the Rider University community," said Cotton.
Prior to Rider, Cotton spent four years at Bucknell University under head coach Dave Paulsen and helped the Bison win the 2011 regular season and Patriot League Tournament championships and earn an NCAA Tournament berth. The Bison won the Patriot League regular season title for the second year in a row in 2011-12, but lost in the tournament championship game to Lehigh. Bucknell advanced to the second round of the 2012 NIT with a double digit opening round win over Arizona before losing a close game to Nevada.
Cotton joined Bucknell's staff after spending time in Durham, NC where he was the head basketball coach at Kestrel Heights School and owner of Complete Player Development, LLC, a basketball instructional training program for players from elementary school through college. In 2007-08, Cotton led his Kestrel Heights team to the Central Carolina Athletic League regular-season title and a runner-up finish in the conference tournament, while also teaching algebra and science.
From 2005-07, Cotton was the head varsity basketball coach at Western Vance High School in Henderson, N.C. In addition to teaching algebra, he coached his team to a league title and an undefeated conference record. Cotton also coached at the prep level at Bonner Academy in Raleigh, N.C., in 2003-04. A year later he served as the coordinator of Communities in Schools of Wake County, a program that served middle and high school students in the Raleigh area who were serving long-term suspensions from school.
Since graduating from Boston College with a degree in biopsychology in 2000, Cotton also spent time working in the business and technical fields, and he was quite active in AAU basketball in North Carolina. From 2001-03 he was head coach of the Garner Road YMCA AAU team; he was associate head coach of the Carolina Cougars from 2003-05; and he was head coach of the United Celtics in 2006-07, helping the 14-and-under team qualify for the Division I AAU National Championships.
The son of a U.S. Air Force serviceman, Cotton was born in Detroit, spent parts of his childhood in Texas, the Philippines, New Mexico and Alaska, and attended high school in Arkansas. His collegiate basketball career began at Oklahoma, and he transferred to Boston College following his sophomore year. As a 6'4" guard, Cotton was a starter for the Eagles during both his junior and senior seasons. At Oklahoma, Cotton was named Big 12 Student of the Week, a Sooner Scholar and he was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Cotton resides in Langhorne, PA and he and his wife, Kendra, have a daughter, Jarah (11), and two sons, Kael (7) and Rhys (5).
