Bryant Basketball Coach O’Shea to Retire at End of Season
Monday, February 12, 2018
GoLocalProv Sports Team
Bryant University men’s basketball head coach Tim O’Shea will retire at the end of the current 2017-18 season.
"I’m really happy I was able to do something I love for 34 years and it has been great. This was my decision which I’m really happy about, and my daughters in college which was a milestone for me so I’m really happy. I'm looking forward to doing other things that I've wanted to do," O'Shea told GoLocalProv on Sunday.
O’Shea is currently in the midst of his tenth season at Bryant after taking over the program in April of 2008.
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The Bulldogs are currently 3-24 overall and 2-12 in conference, with four games left.
"I mean, look, if we were undefeated and nationally ranked, I'd probably feel great, the hardest thing for me is dealing with losing. But, I’ve been thinking about this for awhile so it is not just a knee-jerk reaction, it's not just because of this season. I just feel like I had a good run, 10 years is a long time, I just got to a point where I feel like this is not what I want to do anymore, I want to do some other things," O'Shea said.
Bryant will begin a national search for a new head coach immediately.
O’Shea at Bryant
Through his first nine seasons at Bryant, O'Shea took Bryant to three-straight NEC Tournaments from 2012-15, as well as a national postseason appearance in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI).
"I want to thank coach O'Shea for the incredible job of not only guiding our men's basketball team through a difficult transition to Division I but to lead Bryant to three straight Northeast Conference Tournament appearances," said President Ron Machtley in Bryant's press release.
Picked 10th in the NEC Preseason Coaches' poll in 2012-13, Bryant would finish with a 19-11 overall record and in a tie for second place in the NEC standings with a 12-6 conference record.
The Bulldogs spent seven weeks ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25 poll and would earn a berth in the CBI tournament in the program's first year of postseason eligibility.
In 2013-14, O'Shea led the Bulldogs to their second-consecutive trip to the postseason, finishing the regular season with an 18-14 overall record and a third-place finish in the Northeast Conference standings.
Bryant won double-digit games in back-to-back seasons for the first time in Division I history, with a 37-26 (.587) overall mark since the 2012-13 season.
In 2014-15, O'Shea led the Bulldogs to the program's first postseason win at the Division I level with a double-overtime 91-85 victory over Sacred Heart in the NEC Quarterfinals.
The Bulldogs finished tied for second in the regular-season standings and saw three players named all-conference selections.
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College: Stonehill College
Graduated: 1994
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Graduated: 1996
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College: Boston College
Graduated: 1984
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College: Providence College
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College: Vermont
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