Bryant University has a losing record in this, its first season playing Division I basketball. The Bulldogs will almost certainly have one next year, too. And, probably, the year after that, as well.

But in the long run, it’s a win-win situation in which Bryant and its new coach, Tim O’Shea, find themselves.

It’s a win for Bryant, because O’Shea is exactly the sort of man you’d want coaching your basketball program. Assuming, that is, that you want a man who’s both highly competitive and highly intelligent; who can identify not just talent, but also potential — which, if you’re trying to build a program, is much more important; a coach who can X-and-O with the best in the business, both in practices and during games; who is cerebral, articulate, and has a value system that doesn’t put winning and being a good player above being a good person and a good student.

And how, one well might wonder, is it a win for O’Shea, who has taken a step down, both professionally and financially, from his previous coaching job at Ohio U. — where he resigned after averaging 20 wins a year over the past four seasons, won the Mid-American Conference championship in 2005, and upset the likes of North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia — to take the job at Bryant, where he’ll probably lose 20 games this season?

“You can quantify a pay cut,” he said this week. “But I don’t know how you can quantify improvement in quality of life. I’m working at a great university, for a great president, with a great bunch of kids, and living in the best place in America.

“I wake up every day looking at Newport Harbor,” said O’Shea, who lives in a restored, 18th-century colonial in the Point section and commutes to Smithfield from Aquidneck Island.

“It’s exhilarating for me to drive over those bridges twice a day,” he said.

For those who find it baffling why a coach would take a pay cut and leave a successful, mid-major program to take over the newest program in Division I, O’Shea has a simple explanation.

“A lot of people,” he said, “thought I was crazy.”

But the truth is, O’Shea may be the sanest coach in college basketball.

“It comes down to values,” he said. “What good is it if you’re making a lot of money, but living in a place that doesn’t feel like home?

“I’ve always felt Rhode Island is the greatest place in the country to live — especially Newport. I’ve never lived anywhere else I’ve felt this way about.”

His wife, Elizabeth, feels the same way. So when the opportunity arose to return to Rhode Island, O’Shea jumped at it.

Now, despite Bryant’s 2-12 record and a brutal schedule that has the Bulldogs playing 12 of their first 15 games on the road, including visits to the likes of Connecticut, Iowa, Boston College, Rutgers, Providence, and Maryland, O’Shea couldn’t be happier.

He’s delighted to be part of university president Ron Machtley’s goal of bringing Bryant into the big time, both academically and athletically.

“I felt an immediate connection with Ron,” O’Shea said. “Not surprisingly, considering he’s a graduate of the Naval Academy, he’s a person who’s true to his word — a man of integrity.”

Integrity is important to O’Shea, who says he didn’t like the direction of the Mid-American Conference.

“One thing that was starting to bother me the last couple of years,” he said, “was the seeming disconnect between athletics and academics. Some teams in the conference were taking kids with all kinds of issues. It was all about winning and getting to the NCAA Tournament.”

As a guard at Boston College, O’Shea twice helped the Eagles reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Rest assured, he wants to make the Bulldogs consistent winners, and would love to take them to the Big Dance some time after they become full-fledged members of the Northeast Conference in the 2012-13 season.

But that seems a long way off now, as the Bulldogs battle the big boys in Division I for the first time.

“Because I’ve won as a head coach,” O’Shea said, “I can deal with what we’re going to face. If I’d only been an assistant, and this was my first job, I might have looked at all the losses as a reflection on me.

“I knew what I was getting into when I took this job. What I didn’t know was how resilient the kids would be. They’re not the most talented group — they have more gumption than talent — but there’s no quit in them. They’re persistent. The fact we’ve been as competitive as we have — I’ve got to give them all the credit in the world.”

Just last week, in one of their rare home games, the Bulldogs upset Yale, 69-58.

“That win means so much,” O’Shea said. “We’re in our first year in Division I. Yale has been a big name in intercollegiate athletics since the 19th century.

“When I was at Ohio, we beat North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia, and almost beat Florida in the NCAA Tournament. I know it sounds weird, but I had a greater sense of satisfaction beating Yale than any of those teams.

“The opportunity to live in Rhode Island, and put my imprint on this program, is wonderful. I hope Bryant will be my last coaching job.”

jdonalds@projo.com