COLLEGE
Tim O'Shea's move back to New England became official yesterday, when the Wayland native was formally introduced as Bryant University's new head men's basketball coach at a press conference in Smithfield, R.I.
O'Shea moves to Bryant from Ohio University, where he served as head coach for the past seven seasons. He posted a 120-95 record during his tenure at Ohio, with wins over North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland on his resume. In his final season last year, Ohio was 20-13 and reached the second round of the College Basketball Invitational.
"This is a tremendous day for Bryant University," said Bryant director of athletics Bill Smith at yesterday's press conference. "We are thrilled to have a coach that brings a great amount of respect throughout the country to lead our program into Division I. Tim is an outstanding coach who has enjoyed success everywhere he has been, not only in terms of wins, but in graduating student-athletes. It's a great day for the Bulldog Family."
Bryant, a Division II power, is making the move up to Division I with a transition period beginning this fall. At the conclusion of the four-year transition period, Bryant will become a member of the Northeast Conference.
O'Shea's roots in New England include earning All-America honors at Wayland High and playing on a pair Big East regular-season champion squads at Boston College. He went on to serve as an assistant at Yale, the University of Rhode Island and BC before landing his first head coaching job at Ohio.
At Bryant, O'Shea will replace Max Good, who stepped down after seven seasons to join Bill Bayno's staff at Loyola Marymount University. Good was 132-86 at Bryant and led the Bulldogs to five straight NCAA tournaments, including a run to the 2005 Division II championship game.
UMass-Dartmouth hires DeSantis
Sudbury native Carla DeSantis has been hired as the third women's soccer coach and the first full-time head women's soccer coach in UMass-Dartmouth history.
The hiring is effective August 1. DeSantis replaces Alex Silva, who stepped down after 12 seasons in November.
DeSantis joins the Corsairs after coaching at Coast Guard for four years, and had previously served as an assistant coach at George Washington, Middle Tennessee State and Minnesota State-Mankato. She was also the first head women's soccer coach at Tulane, where she led the Green Wave to three postseason appearances in the first four years of the program.
DeSantis graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where she earned All-Region, All-New England and NCAA Division I All-American honors as a goalkeeper. She began her coaching career at Lincoln-Sudbury High and was in the United States national team pool, playing on the U.S. "B" team during the 1991 World Cup.
"I'm really excited about the opportunity at UMass Dartmouth," said DeSantis in a release. "With the move to a full-time position, the commitment level is being elevated, and I am excited to be coming in as part of the new, positive changes that are taking place. I think there's a lot of talent in this region, the university is in a really great location, and we have some great leadership and direction. It's a unique opportunity, and one that I'm looking forward to being a part of."