FAIRFIELD TWP. — The last time Joshua Todd stepped foot inside the Cincinnati Christian Schools gymnasium was when his Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy junior high girls basketball team lifted the Miami Valley Conference championship trophy.
It’s all relative, now.
Todd was recently named head varsity girls basketball coach at Cincinnati Christian. He takes over for Derrick Byndon, who led the Cougars the last four years.
“I’m just so grateful. I love this game,” Todd said. “You’ve got coaches who like basketball, some coaches that love basketball. I live for basketball. I can promise everyone that I’m going to give it my all. I’m so excited to see where CCS goes.”
Todd’s coaching career began at 22 years old at St. James School in White Oak, and a couple years later, he started his own AAU program — the Ohio Fire based out of Anderson — in 2019.
Todd coached his alma mater Milford at the junior high level before going over to CHCA as a junior high coach during the 2023-24 season. He recently was the head varsity girls basketball coach at Dayton Christian this past season where he led the Warriors to a 4-16 overall and 3-5 record in the Metro Buckeye Conference.
“We are very excited to welcome Joshua Todd to our team at CCS as the Head Varsity Girls Basketball Coach,” Cincinnati Christian athletic director Brian Gunter said. “His commitment and passion for the game, along with his love for Christ, is a winning combination that will strengthen the girls basketball program.
“His experience and vision align perfectly with our program’s goals to ensure student success spiritually, academically, and athletically.”
Todd said he had to take care of some family matters right before Dayton Christian’s postseason tournament and “made the hard decision to step away from head coaching to make sure that they could get their new coach in quick.”
Dayton Christian hired former Middletown girls basketball coach Steven Roe in April.
“Everything got resolved, and God opened the door for me at Cincinnati Christian,” Todd said. “I didn’t think I was going to be coaching this year, to be honest. I was going to probably take a volunteer coaching position somewhere, but that was a blessing in disguise.
“Cincinnati Christian, they have been so supportive.”
Todd said he had a connection with some of Cincinnati Christian’s players on the AAU scene and was enticed to take an interview for the vacant job at CCS.
“The energy there, and my father is a pastor, so it just felt right,” Todd said. “Honestly, just the community itself is a blessing.”
Todd said he knows the type of talent the Cougars had this past season when they finished 14-6 overall and took second place in the Miami Valley Conference’s Gray Division with a 12-2 record.
“That team would have beaten our team at Dayton Christian by 30 points,” Todd noted.
“I’m looking to build the culture up more over there. Connectivity is everything. You’re either a team or a group. They get to make that decision.”
Todd recalls playing against CCS guard Alayna Fitzgerald when he coached the CHCA junior high team. Fitzgerald was the team’s leader averaging 11 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.8 steals a game as a freshman.
“She is an incredible talent,” Todd said of Fitzgerald. “I think she’s going to do some incredible things.
“I’m very excited to see what we can do. I think we’re going to be competing for the MVC championship.”
Todd said he’s going to be a high-intensity team and improve attitude and effort on the court.
“For me, missed shots and bad days, those are going to happen,” Todd said. “But it’s what you do next that determines what is a great athlete.
“I hope teams when they play us think we’re relentless. It’s a resiliency that will be unmatched in this conference. I hope that people will look at us as very disciplined and organized. We will move with intention and a purpose and put God in the center of attention with everything that we do.”
Todd has a coaching staff in mind, but he is still in the works with solidifying that.
“My coaching staff — I can promise you — will make sure we have the best bench culture,” he said. “The little things as a coach and a culture we can control, we’re going to make sure that we take care of that.”
Todd is a Loveland resident and works for Vertical Raise, which is an online fundraising platform. He also does property management at Todd Farms.
