After a year away from the program to play professional basketball overseas, Andy Bedard has returned to his alma mater.

The former two-time All-America East first-team selection is back with the University of Maine men’s basketball team as an assistant coach.

“I went over and played in Portugal, saw the world, made some money, and I had a good time,” Bedard said. “Now I’m back to get into coaching and go into grad school. I like being here and working with coach [John] Giannini.”

Giannini likes young assistants like Bedard because they serve as an ideal conduit between coaches and players.

“We need someone who’s been through this,” Giannini said. “We really wanted young guys who just got finished playing at a high level who would be really good with our players: pushing them, working out with them, be into their culture and into their heads…. Be someone they can relate and talk to.”

Bedard said, “I’m an alumnus here. I’ve taken the same classes these guys are and I know what the faculty expects. I also know what coach expects and it’s not like I’m a coach so much as a big brother.”

Bedard, who rediscovered his love and flair for the game while working out and practicing with the Bears his first season as a volunteer assistant (2000-01), played 75 games all over Europe for Ovar, a team based in the port city of the same name on the northwest coast of Portugal.

“I thought I was going to go back, but this opportunity opened up,” Bedard explained. “Even as late as the second week of October, I had a contract offer on the table from a team in Germany that I was thinking of taking because it was a lot of money.

“I just weighed out my options and I want to be a coach. There’s more money available and I can go on the road recruiting, I’m all set financially, and I can take grad classes and work on my master’s, so it works out great.”

One year later, taking part in practice as an instructor rather than a player and sitting on the bench in a coat and tie instead of a tank top and shorts feels much less strange.

“My first year coaching in 2000 was a little weird because I was fresh out and a lot of the guys I played with I was coaching all of a sudden,” said Bedard. “Now it’s not even a factor because Derrick’s [Jackson] the only guy still on the team that I played with.”

UMaine AD search ends phase I

The University of Maine’s search for a new director of athletics has reached the end of the first phase, according to committee member and UMaine spokesman Joe Carr.

Carr said the university received approximately 45 applications for the position vacated last summer when Suzanne Tyler stepped down to take another job at the university. Paul Bubb, UMaine’s interim AD, has applied for the post on a permanent basis.

“The first phase is finished and we’re entering a second stage which will involve engaging a search consultant to help us move the process forward,” Carr explained.

“Basically, [the committee has] reviewed the applications that came in as a result of the advertisement and other networking,” Carr said.

While a consultant has not been used in recent athletic department job searches, Carr said it is an option that has been utilized to fill other positions within the university. He said UMaine has not yet chosen a firm.

The next step for the committee, with the aid of the consultant, is to examine the remaining candidates, possibly identify some new ones, and try to reduce the list to find the best possible candidates.

“The focus has been and continues to be on finding the right person for this very important job,” said Carr, who explained there is no definite timetable for filling the post.

UMaine’s posting for the AD position said it seeks a dynamic leader, a skilled, experienced professional who has proven success in fundraising, donor relations and cultivation, athletic marketing and promotions, strategic financial planning, and personnel management.

It also said candidates should possess superior communication skills.

Maine, USM players honored

UMaine senior forward Tara Bedard of Skowhegan was named to the STX/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Northeast All-Region First Team Monday. Teammates Jen Johnstone and Kim Leo of Skowhegan were named to the second team. It is the second time that Johnstone has earned the honor while Bedard and Leo were honored for the first time.

Bedard led Maine with 11 goals and 14 assists for 36 points. Bedard led America East in scoring, averaging 1.90 points per game, and led the conference in assists and finished fifth in goals scored.

Johnstone finished fourth on the team in scoring with four goals and six assists for 14 points. Leo saw action in all 19 games and scored a goal and added eight assists.

Two University of Southern Maine field hockey players, senior forward Renee Heath and junior goalie Jessie Superchi, were named to the NFHCA’s All-Region Division III team.

Heath had eight goals, including four game-winners, and six assists for USM. Superchi compiled a 1.08 goals-against average, an .872 save percentage, and posted seven shutouts.

Also named to the team were Amanda Burrage, Leah McClure and Gillian McDonald of Bowdoin; Wendy Bonner of Colby; and Johie Farrar of Bates.