O'Shea agrees to extension with Ohio
If the University of Massachusetts was considering Ohio University coach Tim O'Shea as a candidate to replace Steve Lappas as its coach, it will have to look elsewhere. O'Shea, a former assistant on Al Skinner's staff at Boston College, reached a tentative agreement on a contract extension at Ohio.
"They were very fair to me and my assistant and I've got a great team coming back next year," said O'Shea yesterday from Nashville, where he was preparing his team for today's first-round Syracuse Regional game against Florida.
With O'Shea out of the mix, the list of candidates who have had head coaching experience could move the search to Davidson's Bobby McKillop, former North Carolina coach Matt Doherty, former UCLA coach Steve Lavin, former Celtics and Duquesne coach John Carroll, and Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard.
If that list does not produce a front-runner, UMass could then look at assistant coaches such as Memphis assistant -- and former UMass player -- Tony Barbee and UConn assistant Tom Moore.
Duty calls for Kuwik
Win or lose, Kevin Kuwik's stay at the NCAA Tournament will end this weekend.
The Ohio assistant coach is serving an 18-month tour of duty as an Army engineer in Iraq. He's spent his two-week leave watching the Bobcats win the Mid-American Conference tournament and helping them prepare for their first NCAA appearance in 11 years. Ohio, seeded 13th in the Syracuse Regional, faces fourth-seeded Florida today. On Tuesday, Kuwik goes back to the Middle East.
Kuwik has been having a ball, motivating and cheering on a team that appeared to be a long shot to make the NCAA field when the season began.
"These guys were 10-20 last year and picked for last in the league," Kuwik said yesterday. "What they've accomplished is amazing."
Kuwik, who attended Notre Dame on an ROTC scholarship, was recalled into active duty in October.
In honor of the Army captain, the Bobcats wear gold castle pins -- the insignia of the engineering branch -- on their warmups. Kuwik swapped leaves with another officer and rejoined the Bobcats for the MAC tourney, which Ohio won by overcoming a 19-point deficit against Buffalo in the title game.
Kuwik expects to leave Iraq in December and hopes to return to the sideline in early January.
Romar re-ups
Washington basketball coach Lorenzo Romar agreed to a new eight-year deal with the school after guiding the Huskies to their first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The terms and conditions of the deal that will keep him in Seattle through the 2012-13 season will be released when Romar signs the contract. He was working under a six-year contract that paid him $700,000 a season. "I'm ecstatic," Romar said in a statement before the Huskies beat Montana, 88-77, yesterday in Boise, Idaho. "Whenever something like this happens, there is always a lot of attention on the individual coach. The reality is, without the outstanding work of my staff and the accomplishments of our players, this may not have happened." . . . Kansas swingman Keith Langford will be a game-time decision when the Jayhawks take on Bucknell in Oklahoma City tonight. Langford, the No. 2 scorer on the Syracuse Regional's third seed, hasn't played since spraining an ankle nearly two weeks ago. A severe case of the flu left him hospitalized during the Big 12 tournament last week, then his return was set back this week by an aggravation of the ankle problem and a relapse of his illness . . . Four conferences -- Big East, Big 12, Pac-10, and Conference USA -- each had two wins on the first day of the first round. Only one league had two losers -- the Southeastern Conference, which saw LSU lose to UAB and Alabama fall to Wisconsin-Milwaukee . . . Texas, which lost to Nevada, was eliminated before the regional semis for the first time in four years . . . Bobby Knight improved to 44-23 in 27 NCAA appearances, but Texas Tech's win over UCLA was only his fourth in 12 tournament games since 1995.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
