After graduating from Cal State Northridge in 1985 (with a bachelor's degree in English), Braswell became a teacher and head basketball coach at Cleveland High School in Reseda, Los Angeles.
Braswell's success on the high school level elevated him to a position as assistant coach at Long Beach State.
The 49ers would reach the NCAA tournament the season after Braswell's departure, led by Harris and Bryon Russell, players he had recruited.
Braswell's work at Long Beach State led to him being hired as the top assistant to Jerry Green at the University of Oregon.
In 1996, Braswell made his return to his alma mater, Cal State Northridge, as their new head coach.
Despite a sixth-place finish, Braswell's team made a run to the finals of the Big Sky Conference tournament.
The following season, CSUN again finished near the bottom of the Big Sky conference, but performed well in the tournament, upsetting Eastern Washington in the quarterfinals before losing to host and eventual champion Northern Arizona the next day.
The next year, the record improved to 20–10, and Braswell's team again made a run to the Big Sky championship game, losing in overtime to Northern Arizona.
In the 2004 Big West tournament, his team made an improbable run to finals, winning three games in three nights.
Then with five seconds to play, UOP's Michael Kirby was fouled and hit two free throws to send the game into overtime at 61–61.
But a jumper by Rob Haynes, another three-pointer by Mels and two free throws by Mark Hill down the stretch gave the Matadors the win, the Big West Conference Championship, and the school's second berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The post-game celebration also included a rich history in college basketball, the cutting down of the nets by each team member.
In 2004, Braswell was reprimanded by the university for a failure to provide oversight to an assistant coach who had violated NCAA rules.
[5] The younger Braswell worked at a suburban Los Angeles Best Buy in Porter Ranch, and allegedly accessed the cash register using a stolen password from an absent employee.
[5] Jeffery was convicted of a misdemeanor after pleading no contest and he received a sentence of three years' formal probation and 300 hours of work with the California Department of Transportation.