After a two-year stint as an assistant at Yale, O'Shea returned to URI, joining Al Skinner's staff, where he stayed for nine seasons.
In his first season in charge of the Bobcats, O'Shea guided the team to a 17–11 record, including wins over DePaul and North Carolina.
The 2004–05 Bobcats captured significant non-conference victories against San Francisco, Butler and Detroit, then won 11 of their last 15 contests down the stretch.
[3] With expectations high in 2005–06, O'Shea and Ohio compiled 19 victories before falling to eventual league champion Kent State in the MAC tournament semifinals.
[4] The Bobcats registered victories at Marist, Rhode Island and Toledo, against Akron and Samford at home, and took 18th-ranked Kentucky to the wire in Cincinnati, Ohio.
O'Shea returned to his New England roots when he signed an eight-year contract to take over the head coaching duties at Bryant as the school transitioned to a full Division I member of the Northeast Conference.