Infamy avoided: Chatting with Bryant head coach Tim O’Shea
Bryant head coach Tim O'Shea. (Bryant Athletics)
The last team to head back into the locker room as winners, the Bryant Bulldogs, finally rid themselves of A Season Popular for All the Wrong Reasons in Staten Island last night. Bryant got into the W column with its 53-51 over 4-24 Wagner. The Bulldogs won thanks to freshman Raphael Jordan sinking two free throws with .8 seconds remaining. I tracked down Bulldogs head coach Tim O’Shea, who gabbed about the seniors getting a win and the transition the school is going through.
CHJ: Jim Donaldson of the Providence Journal actually tried to jinx you by saying you’d go winless the rest of the season. Looks like his magic worked to perfection.
Tim O’Shea: We’re in the midst of a transition From Division II to Division I. Typically, your roster is filled with kids with the best of intentions. And those kids were recruited to play at the D-II level. That’s a huge gap. The difference between the two divisions is enormous. Our schedule has been a full DI schedule each year since we crossed over. We haven’t thrown in any non-Division I, like a lot of schools will do. We played our first 16 of the 20 games on the road, and the truth of the matter is we knew a lot of games would be tough, if not impossible. We had a tough break in early in the season when Cecil Gresham was lost with a knee injury. In a perfect situation, we were fragile to begin with. Losing a kid that was averaging 15 or 16 points per game and had 20 on many occasions at the Division I level, it’s certainly nice we found a way to get a win last night. That directly relates to the transition we’re making. We don’t have the scoring talent you’d have on a regular D-I roster. [The losing streak] had become a little of a distraction. One of my big concerns was, if we didn’t win a game this season, [it could carry over] next year. … The burden of the streak would’ve carried over into part of next season.
CHJ: What happened in this game that hadn’t happened in others that led to your winning?
O’Shea: Well, as a I said before, once we’re down, we’re a team that struggles to score. But our freshmen have really made progress the rest of the year. If we’re going to win a game, it’s going to be because it was a relatively low-scoring game. It was just one of those nights that plays went our way that hadn’t gone our way all season. Fouls went our way. It’s good for the seniors, because, for them … there’s no next year. I was particularly happy they got a chance to win. They don’t get a chance to play for an NCAA tournament bid.
Your argument is there’s too many schools in Division I. Well, how many should there be?
CHJ: How much pressure do you think Raphael Jordan was feeling when he stepped to the line with a tie game and infamy on the line?
O’Shea: He’s played a ton as a freshman, so at this point in the year he should be comfortable. But still, the fact is, this should give him a lot of confidence, because no matter what happens the rest of his career at Bryant, he can say, “Hey I made a game-winning shot.” And that can be a huge positive, psychologically, for any player.
CHJ: The win is clearly the high point for this team this season. What was the low one?
O’Shea: It hasn’t been like that. There hasn’t been a rock-bottom. It has been a continuous quest to get better. I’ve never bought into that whole rock-bottom stuff. I was a coach for seven years at Ohio, and 20 years prior to that, I was an assistant coach at the Division I level. There’s a process to it all. I never look for peaks or valleys.
CHJ: Given the team only has one win so far this season, has the move to D-I been tougher than you anticipated?
O’Shea: No, not really. I had a pretty good idea what we were up against going into this transition. So, since I have a long contract, I took the long view of this. … I knew we were going to struggle to win any games. But I knew we had difference-makers sitting out, too. There isn’t a move I’d take back. There’s a real element when you take over a job like this that you have to stay the course. … Whether we won or lost last night, my attitude wouldn’t have changed.
One of my big concerns was, if we didn’t win a game this season, the burden would carry over next year.
CHJ: You’ve made the switch over to Division I. Many writers and pundits, including me, have said the field of DI teams is way too bloated. What are your thoughts on the fact that nearly 350 schools are playing Division I basketball? Some think it’s for the worse.
O’Shea: A lot of that has to do with the inequities in scheduling. You can pick a lot of BCS schools that are playing 20 or 21 home games. The only games they’re playing on the road are conference games. [Ed. This is a mild exaggeration. Rare is the case in this day and age that a BCS school doesn't schedule at least one true road/neutral game out of conference.] If you’re in the MEAC or SWAC school, you’re playing road games to bring money into your program. Also, because of the new rules that went into place, the multi-million dollar process of getting into Division I, I think you will see membership cap where it’s going to be now. One of the things that makes college basketball so great and so popular is the David vs. Goliath. … I think it’s good for the game. What’s the perfect number? Who knows. Your argument is there’s too many schools. Well, how many should there be? Basketball is not football. Like Bucknell, at one point they weren’t a Division I school. That was one of the great stories in the NCAA tournament. And there’ll be other schools that emerge that you’re not even thinking about right now that will offer some great storylines and competition come March. I don’t buy this argument that there’s too many.
CHJ: Talk about recruiting in Division I while coaching a team that only has one win. How do those conversations usually start?
O’Shea: I’ve recruited in the Big East, Atlantic 10, the Mid-American. One, you’re offering a scholarship to a first-rate academic institution at a place where, when kids graduate in four years, they get job. Anyone we sign after his year will be eligible for three years to play the NCAA tournament. Anyone that red shirts will be eligible for four years. The transitional period isn’t relevant anymore; they’re going to have chances to win an NCAA tournament bid. … Recruiting always comes down to three things: one, is the kid good enough; two are they fit geographically and academically; and three, who else is recruiting them. I’m going after kids who have a profile I think we can win with. After all that leg work, you’re sitting down with a kid and it’s not a hard sell [to play at Bryant]. The key at lower-mid level is evaluating talent. The highest level is getting the marquee players that everyone knows about.
CHJ: Since you’re team isn’t in the NEC tournament, hopefully you can answer this with some conviction. What team is winning the NEC tournament?
O’Shea: I think it’s going to be one of these three teams: either Quinnipiac, Robert Morris or Mount Saint Mary’s. And I think they can all, depending on where they’re seeded, put a real scare into somebody. When I was at Ohio in 2005, we played against Florida and the game was tied with a minute to go.
