Air Force has named Jeff Bzdelik its new men's basketball coach. Terms of the deal for the former coach of the NBA's Denver Nuggets were not released and will not become available until it is reviewed and finalized by Air Force Academy personnel. Bzdelik will become the sixth head coach in Air Force history and the third in three seasons. He will take over for Chris Mooney, who spent just one year at the helm and left earlier this month to take the vacant position at Richmond. Joe Scott left Air Force for Princeton after the 2003-04 campaign. "We're very excited about having Jeff lead the men's basketball team here at the Academy," said Air Force athletic director Dr. Hans Mueh. "He brings a wealth of experience at the highest levels of basketball and has a proven record." Bzdelik was fired as the Nuggets coach in late December after the team struggled to a 13-15 start following an incredible 2003-04 season. He guided Denver to 43 wins -- a 26-game improvement from the previous year -- and the team's first post-season berth since 1995. In 2 1/2 years with the Nuggets, Bzdelik compiled an overall mark of 73-119. "His teams have always played like successful Air Force teams do, hard, aggressive and with passion," Mueh added. "Jeff is also committed to academics and has an understanding of the military and what our mission at the Academy is about. He'll be a great leader for our young people." The 52-year-old Bzdelik has collegiate head coaching experience, having guided Maryland-Baltimore County's transition from Division II to Division I from 1986-88. UMBC went 25-31 during his two-year tenure. "I'm honored and very excited to be named the next head coach at the Air Force Academy," said Bzdelik, who will inherit a strong squad for the 2005-06 season. The Falcons were 18-12 last year, down slightly from the school's best mark of 22-7 the previous season, and will return four of their five starters, as well as the top five scorers from 2004-05.