The press conference announcing the new boys’ basketball coach at Meridian High School may have been an on-again, off-again affair — but there was nothing wishy-washy about the intentions of new head man Randy Bolden.

“I’m confident in what I do and the administrators have put their faith in me. I know I can come in and do the job and I’m excited about the opportunity,” Bolden said after being named Meridian’s new head basketball coach in a Monday afternoon press conference in the Turnage Gymnasium.

Bolden, 31, replaces Ernie Watson — the highly-touted Meridian coach who was relieved of his duties in a high-profile firing in the middle of the 2006-07 campaign.

Many basketball fans in the area may not be familar with Bolden, who has been a head coach for just the past three seasons at Pearl High School. But there’s no arguing with his impressive hoops resume.

An all-state guard at Forest Hill High School in Jackson, Bolden played collegiately at Texas Southern University in Houston — where he was teammates for two seasons with former Kemper County star Kevin Granger.

At Texas Southern, Bolden was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s Freshman of the Year and was twice named th SWAC Player of the Year. He finished in the top 10 in scoring nationally his junior and senior seasons and his name can be found throughout the TSU record books.

Following his college career, Bolden played professionally for two years in Brazil and later played in Iceland and Canada.

His first coaching job came as an assistant at big-school powerhouse Jackson Provine, and three years ago he took over at Pearl — winning 20 games and making the playoffs in his first season.

Bolden has been exposed to winning throughout his career — Texas Southern was a SWAC power in the 1990s and both Provine teams won state championships while he was an assistant — and he sees no reason winning can’t continue in Meridian.

“I feel good about it,” he said. “This is one of Mississippi’s basketball meccas … they’ve got a great athletic program all together and it was just a great opportunity.”

Bolden, who also holds a master’s degree from Jackson State University, will be joined in Meridian by fiance Latessa Stone and his 4-year-old son, Rashad Bolden.

He’s the second head coach of a major sport Meridian has plucked from Pearl in the past year — joining MHS head football coach Larry Weems as former Pirates.

Bolden’s hiring still must be approved by the Meridian Public Schools board.