Not only has Associate Head Coach Barry Rohrssen been all but eliminated from the possibility of getting the job, but it looks like the opening the Seton Hall hiring creates won’t be in New York.
Multiple sources tell the Daily News that Ohio University’s Tim O’Shea is expected to be named the new coach at Seton Hall before the end of the week. An announcement could come as early as today, though Seton Hall sports information director Jeff Andriesse said there are currently no plans for a press conference.
If O’Shea is indeed the Pirates’ choice, it could prove to be a huge gamble on the part of first-year athletic director Joe Quinlan. O’Shea, who spent four years in the Big East as an assistant coach at Boston College, has been a head coach for just four seasons at lightly regarded Ohio University. O’Shea did guide the Bobcats to one NCAA Tournament and an 83-69 career mark, but he lacks the local recruiting ties of another candidate, Manhattan’s Bobby Gonzalez.
Rutgers went this same route five seasons ago when it hired a little-known coach from Kent State in Gary Waters and never made the NCAA Tournament during his tenure with the Scarlet Knights. Waters resigned at the end of this season and Rutgers hired Fred Hill Jr., who is known for his excellent recruiting ties in the New York/New Jersey area.
O’Shea is apparently the only candidate to get the coveted second interview. A NJ paper, though, still writes that it is simply down to Gonzalez or O’Shea.
Seton Hall University’s long and winding search for a men’s basketball coach is expected to come to an end today, with Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez and Ohio University head coach Tim O’Shea neck-and-neck for the position.
After interviewing five candidates over the past 11 days, athletic director Joe Quinlan is expected to make a job offer today, with an official announcement coming within 24 hours.
But even they seem to be hinting that it will be O’Shea.
Gonzalez, who also is in the mix for openings at Temple and North Carolina State, had a long and productive interview with Quinlan last Wednesday but has not heard from him since, sources say.
The long silence has fueled speculation another candidate — most notably O’Shea — has moved into contention. O’Shea, a native New Englander who made a name for himself as the lead recruiter at Boston College under Al Skinner, interviewed with Quinlan twice over Final Four weekend.
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Pittsburgh associate head coach Barry Rohrssen interviewed last Tuesday. Rohrssen is a master recruiter of the metropolitan area and was an early favorite to land the job, but his lack of head coaching experience scared some key people in the decision-making process.
The Temple job, by most indications is Penn’s Fran Dunphy’s if he wants it. Gonzalez isn’t mentioned as a strong candidate in most stories I’ve seen on that job search. Same with the NC State job — though wouldn’t Gonzalez’s high-key attitude be quite the shift from the cerebral (read: comatose) Sendek.
A report from Athens, Ohio seems to add to the appearance of O’Shea to Seton Hall and the possible reason why.
An alleged argument between Manhattan men’s basketball coach Bobby Gonzalez and Seton Hall director of athletics Joe Quinlan, might cause a coaching shakeup here in Athens.
The New York Daily News reported yesterday that Ohio men’s basketball coach Tim O’Shea received a second interview with Quinlan. It is also rumored that O’Shea is the new favorite to fill the Pirates’ vacant head coaching position after Gonzalez and Quinlan had a falling out over Gonzalez’s picks for his new coaching staff.
That reads as if Quinlan wanted Gonzalez to keep some parts of the staff (perhaps John Dunne). If it’s O’Shea, then it means only the Fairfield Head Coaching gig would likely be the only potential job remaining for Rohrssen.
