Boyages Returns to Columbus to Fill Spot on O’Brien’s Staff – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
April 14, 2003
COLUMBUS, Ohio-Jim O’Brien, Ohio State head men’s basketball coach, announced Monday the hiring of Rick Boyages, 41, as the associate head coach on the OSU men’s basketball staff.
Boyages spent the last three seasons as the head coach at William and Mary. He left Ohio State in the summer of 2000 after serving as an O’Brien assistant at both Boston College (1992-97) and Ohio State (1998-2000).
Boyages fills the spot vacated by Paul Biancardi, who accepted the head coach position at Wright State earlier this month.
“This was a no-brainer for me,” O’Brien said. “I am absolutely delighted to get an opportunity to welcome Rick back to our program. He had been with me nine years before his tenure at William and Mary. He has remained a trusted and loyal friend. He is an outstanding coach who will easily fit right back in here at Ohio State.”
Boyages also looks forward to his return to Columbus.
“I consider the opportunity to return to Columbus as a professional advancement,” Boyages said. “I’m excited about reuniting with my good friend Jim O’Brien, who I consider to be one of the most highly-respected coaches in America. I also have tremendous admiration for The Ohio State University and its athletics program under the direction of Andy Geiger.”
A native of Wakefield, Mass., Boyages spent a total of nine years on O’Brien’s staffs before accepting the position at William and Mary. Prior to his first stint at Ohio State, he spent six seasons at Boston College. O’Brien originally hired Boyages in 1991 from Bates College, where he had been head coach for four years. When named head coach at Bates in 1987, Boyages, then 24, was the nation’s youngest collegiate head coach.
At both Ohio State and Boston College, Boyages was a part of some amazing one-season turnarounds. At Boston College, he helped turn the Eagles around from a 9-19 team in 1995 to a 19-11 team that went to the NCAA tournament in 1996. Then with Ohio State, he had a part in turning the Buckeyes from an 8-21 season in 1997-98 to a 27-9 mark and a berth in the Final Four in 1999, the fourth-best single-season improvement in NCAA Division I history. In the nine years with O’Brien, Boyages coached in 15 NCAA tournament games in five appearances, including making the Final Four once and the Elite Eight twice.
A 1985 graduate of Bowdoin College, Boyages was an All-New England basketball honoree. He was awarded the Allison Haldane Cup for outstanding leadership and character at his commencement. He holds a master’s degree in education from Boston University.
Boyages and his wife Deana have three daughters, Alexis, Noelle and Sophia.
