Editor's Note: This story has been update to reflect a correction. Leon Williams was a forward for the Bobcats, not a guard.
For some coaches, the thrill of their profession is taking a program in need of a change and turning it into something positive.
Former Ohio head men’s basketball coach Tim O’Shea has done that at Bryant University. He inherited a program that was transitioning from the NCAA Division II to the Division I level in 2008. The Bulldogs’ progress was slow. They won eight games their first season in Division I, but in their second, the team finished 1-29.
During the 2010–11 season, the team picked up the pace by winning nine games, but this year they only won two. O’Shea said his job at Bryant has been a rejuvenating but difficult experience.
“I’m energized by the challenge of trying to take a program essentially from scratch, or Division II, to Division I. I knew it would be difficult the first couple of seasons, and it has,” he said. “Despite the record, I am quite optimistic that we are on the right track with some quality kids coming in.”
Prior to coaching at Bryant and Ohio, O’Shea spent nine seasons as an assistant at Rhode Island and helped the Rams to two NCAA tournaments and two NIT berths.
After more coaching stops at Yale and Boston College, O’Shea eventually ended up at the helm of the Bobcats, a position he would hold for seven seasons.
O’Shea recruited former NBA guard Cuttino Mobley to play at Rhode Island. He also coached Brandon Hunter at Ohio. Hunter was one of the all-time best players at Ohio, is fourth on the all-time scoring list and is the all-time leading rebounder.
Though he coached those two players that made it to the NBA, O’Shea cites former Bobcat forward Leon Williams as his favorite player to coach. He uses Williams as a role model with his current squad.
“In four years as a student-athlete at Ohio University, Leon never missed a practice,” O’Shea said. “ He was a tremendous competitor, his consistency over my four years with him … he was a tremendous success story for the program.”
During his time at Ohio, O’Shea squared off against current Ohio coach Jim Christian and remembers Christian’s Kent State teams being tough to beat.
Christian remembers the contests with O’Shea in the exact same way.
“Obviously he had a great run in 2005 with a young team. Had they not had some departures they would have been a force to be reckoned with,” Christian said. “There were some great battles with Tim.”
O’Shea’s decision to leave Ohio was more than a basketball decision.
“I’m from (the Rhode Island) area to start with, and my parents still are quite elderly,” he said. “Seven years with one program is a long time. I just thought the time was right for a change.”
O’Shea said he might return to Athens, but only to show his daughter around campus when it comes time for her to make college visits.
nr225008@ohiou.edu
