Erie, Pa --- The Mercyhurst University Men's Basketball team and Head Coach Gary Manchel have announced three new members to their coaching staff prior to the start of the 2021-22 season. Manchel has added Tom O'Shea and Andrew Hoying as Assistant Coaches, while David Meikle II will serve as the teams Graduate Assistant.

O'Shea joins the Laker coaching staff after spending the last five seasons at UMass-Lowell as the Director of Basketball Operations. He holds 25 years of coaching experience including a 13 year stint as the Head Coach at Saint Michael's College. In his 13 years at the helm, he became the Purple Knights' all-time leader in career wins with 176. Under his direction, the team achieved three straight 20-win seasons (1999-2001), a first in school history, in addition to making two NCAA Tournament appearances, and winning an ECAC Championship and two Northeast-10 Conference Tournament titles. During the 2000-01 season, Saint Michael's reached the Sweet 16 of the Division II NCAA Tournament, establishing a new school record with 27 victories. In 1999, he was named New England Division II Coaches Association Coach of the Year, Northeast-10 Coach of the Year and Northeast Regional Coach of the Year, as well.

O'Shea is a 1986 graduate of the University of Vermont. A hard-working guard, he was awarded the Sunderland Award as Vermont's outstanding senior-athlete in 1986, and was also honored as the first recipient of the Tom O'Shea Award, which is awarded annually to a Vermont player who exhibits the strongest commitment and dedication to the Catamount program. He received his master's degree in education from his alma mater in 1990.

Andrew Hoying comes back to his alma mater to join the coaching staff. Hoying played from 2012-2016 under Coach Manchel. While at Mercyhurst, he played in all 118 games and won a PSAC Championship in his senior year. In that year, Hoying was selected as the Mercyhurst Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the PSAC Men's Basketball Champion Scholar Athlete. He has spent the past three years as a High School basketball Varsity Assistant Coach for Bishop Hartley High School (Columbus, OH) and most recently, Wapakoneta High School (Wapakoneta, Ohio).

Meikle II comes to Mercyhurst after completing his undergraduate degree in Business Management at Eastern Kentucky University in 2021. He brings with him five years of experience working with three different collegiate coaches. While at Eastern Kentucky, he served as the teams manager specializing in player skill development. Meikle II has trained or assisted in the training of multiple Professional basketball players including Kris Dunn, David Duke, and Ricky Ledo.