Max Good, who revived Bryant University basketball and took the Bulldogs to five consecutive NCAA Division II tournaments and the championship game in 2005, has resigned to become an assistant coach at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.

He will join his former boss, Bill Bayno, with whom he worked at UNLV in 2000 and the start of the 2001 season. Good informed his team by conference call yesterday and then spoke with each player. He said that from a financial standpoint, Bayno’s offer was too good to pass up.

“Now my wife doesn’t have to work. She lived with me in the dorms at MCI and she’s driven the van,” he said after calls to his players. “I leave here reluctantly. It was a very tough decision. I’m leaving a great situation for one that’s a little better for me.”

Good’s departure leaves Jim Baron of the University of Rhode Island as the only returning Division I coach for 2008-09. Providence College fired Tim Welsh and hired Keno Davis of Drake. Craig Robinson left Brown for Oregon State, and Brown is nearing the end of its search.

Bill Smith, director of athletics, will launch his search next week after he meets with president Ronald K. Machtley. The search comes at a critical time because Bryant is moving up to Division I in the fall and the Bulldogs have contracts to play at Iowa, Connecticut, Boston College, Maryland and Providence College, two factors that should make the job attractive. Smith said he will take his time.

“It’s more important that we get an excellent coach, a coach with the same qualities as Max,” he said.

Bayno contacted Good about the time of the Final Four after receiving permission from Smith, and Good visited the campus last week.

“The campus and the weather blew me away, although I’m not a weather guy,” Good said. He will start his new job on Aug. 1, and expects to spend most of his time coaching defense and fast-break offense and scouting opponents, his responsibilities under Bayno at UNLV. Loyola Marymount plays in the West Coast Conference, home of Gonzaga and San Diego, among others.

Known for his high energy level, raspy voice, sense of humor and locker-room language with his players, Good, 67, has been a popular figure on the New England basketball scene for years. He compiled a 131-86 record in seven seasons at Bryant and posted six consecutive winning seasons.

He logged 10 years at Maine Central Institute (MCI), where he was 275-30, won 79 consecutive games over three seasons, had three undefeated seasons and won five New England prep school titles. Eighty-seven of his players went on to Division I basketball, and nine reached the NBA.

Good left MCI for UNLV in 1999, and took over the Runnin’ Rebels in December 2000 after Bayno was fired in the wake of recruiting violations that resulted in a postseason ban for the 2001 season and four years probation. Bayno was never directly accused of any transgression in the case that involved Lamar Odom, and the NCAA ultimately cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Good led UNLV to a 13-9 record in 2001, visited Bryant that April and signed a contract after turning down offers from three big-time schools to be an assistant coach.

“I can’t be grateful enough to Ron and Dan Gavitt for giving me the opportunity. I’m saddened by leaving here,” Good said. Gavitt was the athletics director who hired him.

Good’s players were as successful in class as they were on the court. “I’m very proud that we graduated 24 of the 25 players we recruited,” he said.

mszostak@projo.com