NASHUA – When Lance Bisson pulls into the Rivier University parking lot this week, he’s pinching himself.

That’s because he can now call the people there his co-workers.

“It’s great,” said Bisson, who on Monday was named the Raiders’ permanent men’s basketball coach after coaching most of last season on an interim basis. “Being a Nashua guy and a Rivier alum, when I pull in, I have a smile on my face. They’ve given me the opportunity to do what I want to do in life.”

And that’s coach. Bisson, who had been an assistant coach since 2012, took the Raiders over on an interim basis in early December last year after longtime head coach Dave Morissette resigned to spend more time with his family.

The Raiders have struggled, and Bisson’s team last season did too, finishing the year 4-21, 4-16 under Bisson, who was juggling that with a full-time job as a beverage company salesman that he has since given up. But the school saw him as a great fit, and Rivier Athletic Director Joanne Merrill said officials never brought in any outside candidates to compete with Bisson for the job.

“He had really done a good job, stepped into a really challenging situation,” Merrill said. “Hey, put your money where your mouth is. If you’ve got a good product, you shouldn’t break it up.”

So they didn’t. Bisson, who graduated from Rivier in 2009, will also coach men’s and women’s cross country. He actually ran cross country for all four years he was a Raider.

“It’s definitely a great vote of confidence,” Bisson said of the school never interviewing other applicants. “I kind of felt I had the upper hand, but I thought they might talk to other candidates just to be sure.”

Bisson,who was a member of Nashua High School North’s first graduating class in 2005 and played on Rivier’s NCAA tourney team in 2007, kept recruiting as if he would ultimately be the choice. And now he’s able to fully implement his plan.

“It’s definitely a challenge,” he said. “I look at it as an opportunity. We have to get the right kids in here who are willing to put the work in the way we want the work done. Now being full-time, I have complete control of the imprint.”

“We were still really competitive,” Merrill said. “I kind of look at Lance as kind of the player he was – tough, hard-nosed, disciplined. That’s what I saw.”

Merrill and the Rivier men’s hoop program hope to see it for years to come.