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By MICHAEL PARENTE Sports writer SMITHFIELD – Shortly after introducing Tim O’Shea as Bryant University’s head men’s basketball coach Monday, president Ron Machtley handed his new employee an official Bulldogs baseball hat to try on in front of the gathered players, faculty and media.
Only one problem – it was too small.
“There’s a lot of basketball in there!” joked O’Shea’s wife, Elizabeth, as she pointed to her husband’s head.
Machtley agrees, which is why he and athletic director Bill Smith chose O’Shea to lead Bryant in its transition to Division I. A lifelong New Englander, O’Shea boasts an impressive resume, which includes 15 years as Al Skinner’s top assistant at Rhode Island and Boston College and a seven-year stint as the head coach at Ohio University. O’Shea won a Mid-American Conference title with the Bobcats in 2005 and took No. 4 seed Florida to the wire in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
“What impressed me the most about Tim is he comes from the John Wooden model,” Machtley said in reference to the legendary UCLA coach who won 10 national championships. “He’s an educator first. Second, he’s a coach, and he goes out and gets the right kind of players. Third, he knows how to win, and we’re looking forward to all three of those characteristics in time.
“We’re going to be patient. We know it’ll be a challenge, but we’re just so thrilled to have him here.”
O’Shea faces a unique challenge at Bryant because the school is beginning its transition to Division I, which includes a four-year reclassification period in which the Bulldogs will be ineligible for postseason play until they become a full-time member of the Northeast Conference in 2012.
O’Shea also faces the unenviable task of replacing Max Good, who took Bryant to the Division II NCAA Tournament in each of his final five seasons at the helm before leaving to become Bill Bayno’s assistant at Loyola-Marymount.
Good compiled a record of 132-86 in seven years and led the Bulldogs to the national championship game in 2004. He also built next year’s D-I schedule, which includes road games at Connecticut, Providence, Boston College, Rutgers and Maryland.
“Max Good is a very, very good friend of mine. We’ve been friends for over 20 years. He’s a big reason Bryant is in the position to move to Division I because of what he did at the Division II level,” O’Shea said before ribbing his longtime companion. “Next year will be interesting, though, because if you saw, coach Good put together a very interesting schedule. I told him that if Bill Bayno lets him anywhere near the schedule at Loyola, he should be fired, because I don’t know what Max was thinking!”
All kidding aside, O’Shea is excited about the opportunity to lead Bryant in its transition, particularly because of the exposure the school will receive at the highest level.
“The other day I got a call from a guy who covers our team in Ohio from the Columbus Dispatch, and he said to me, ‘I’ve never even heard of Bryant University.’ I said, ‘That’s the whole idea of going to Division I – to spread the word about Bryant University throughout the country,’” O’Shea said. “Division I athletics really gives you that opportunity, because the opportunities will eventually come to play on national TV, to play name schools, and to be on that ticker on ESPN where your scores are reported. It has an amazing impact in terms of raising the profile of an institution. Eventually – hopefully – we’ll also be able to provide some signature wins.
“You look at schools like Belmont in the NCAA Tournament. UNC-Charlotte, the College of Charleston – a lot of people don’t realize at some point they were not Division I. There are so many examples throughout the country of teams that made that decision to go from a non-Division I status to Division I, and in time, with the proper support and the right institution, it does work out. I’m extremely optimistic that it’s going to be a success here and I really look forward to the opportunity in front of me.”
O’Shea likens his latest challenge to the task he and Skinner endured upon their arrival at Boston College in 1997. The Eagles had only five scholarship players and managed to win 15 games that year before finishing 6-21 the following season.
“We even lost to Harvard,” O’Shea said. “If you’re a Big East program, it’s one thing to lose to Harvard in a spelling bee, but if you lose to them in basketball that’s really bad. That was really a low point, and most people thought the program was dead and buried.”
Through recruiting – and “a little bit of luck,” according to O’Shea – they built Boston College into a national powerhouse, qualifying for the postseason six times in the next seven years, including five trips to the NCAAs.
O’Shea hopes to do the same at Bryant, though he realizes it’ll take time. For now, the first step is getting to know his players and building a coaching staff. He spoke with most of Bryant’s returnees last week, and has already made one transaction, retaining veteran assistant Dwayne Pina, who spent three years on Good’s staff after playing for Skinner and O’Brien at Boston College.
“My first year was the first year coach Skinner and coach O’Shea came on board,” said Pina, who played 78 career games for the Eagles after making the team as a walk-on in 1997. “I remember him in practice being very detailed – a great X’s and O’s guy and a teacher of the game. I don’t think coach O’Shea has as aggressive a style as coach Good, but the end result will be similar.”
Since the Bulldogs cannot compete in the postseason until 2012, O’Shea hopes to spend the next four years building a foundation so the Bulldogs will be ready to compete as soon as they are eligible.
“The key first is to get through this provisional period and be eligible to play in the postseason,” he said. “That’s a big deal to the kids you’re recruiting. There will be some kids that would otherwise come to Bryant, but may not come because that opportunity isn’t there initially. I still think there’s a lot to sell and a lot of angles to play where we can put together a competitive team, but that’s a critical time to get through.
“I’m very, very optimistic it’s going to work. It may be a little rough at the beginning at times as most of these transitions are, but I think the long-term view that’s being taken here by Ron, Bill, and everyone is very viable, and I think it’s going to raise the profile of Bryant University throughout the country.”
Smith and Machtley are confident they made the right choice. After all, O’Shea has a lot to offer Bryant – most of it between the ears. |
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