Where to begin? Last season was a tale of two cities; it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Pick your parable. What I remember most, is on an unseasonably warm weekend in February, my wife and I were walking around Washington, DC, marveling at the charms of the city. The cherry blossoms were out early. We had plans to attend a basketball game at noon that Sunday. Little did we know, somewhere in our vicinity, Ed Cooley and his wife were having a similar experience – the difference being, it was only a bit of escapism for me.
I’m not mad at Ed Cooley. It would be childish and immature to hold another person’s career ambitions against them. But I did lose a lot of respect for him in the way he handled the defection to Georgetown. Providence had an excellent team into late February (including a 12-4 start to conference play), with designs on a second consecutive Sweet 16 run. Those are rare in these parts and not to be taken lightly. The Georgetown rumors seemed far-fetched initially, but grew louder and louder. By the time we witnessed the Friars getting blown out by Seton Hall on the final day of the Big East regular season, it seemed like something was up. Drawing eventual National Champions UConn in the first round of the Big East tournament, Providence absolutely wilted in the first half – and only by way of a spirited second half comeback (which ultimately fell short) were they able to save their March Madness aspirations, squeaking in as an 11 seed.
After a first round tilt against Kentucky was announced, Cooley pretended like he hadn’t heard the rumors. Huh? All he needed to do on Selection Sunday – all he needed to do in the preceding month – was say “I’m under contract as the head coach of the Providence Friars and plan to be here for the long-term.” Easy. Neutralize the distraction, explain your change of heart later. Coaches do this all the time; but he chose to let the distraction fester. And fester, it did.
I was there in Greensboro, NC as the Friars fell to Kentucky. A talented team, out with a whimper. A few days later, Ed Cooley left. And it sure seemed in the moment that Providence College basketball would be facing a multi-year setback. New athletic director Steve Napolillio, thrust into the most important decision of his career, showed public defiance and galvanized fans. The coaching search quickly honed in on former Mizzou star, (briefly) NBA player, and George Mason coach Kim English.
The immediate aftermath was rough. Recruits decommitted and key players entered the transfer portal. Yikes, we all thought. But then a funny thing happened: English’s charm offensive started working. He challenged the talented rising Sophomore Jayden Pierre to a game of one-on-one, which he streamed on Instagram. The joke was that if Kim won, Jayden would take his name out of the portal. Allegedly, Kim won easily. Then Corey Floyd announced he was staying; Pierre followed suit; national top 40 recruit Garwey Dual re-committed; and finally, the stars of last season – Bryce Hopkins and Devan Carter – announced they’d be back. Whoa!
So here we sit, a week from the new season tipping off, with a team that’s pretty darn good. And a coach who is young, cool, and forward thinking. Let’s go.
Key Questions Entering the Season
KenPom has the Friars at #54 nationally and #6 in the Big East, which is roughly in line with where the analytics pegged most Cooley teams of recent vintage. Those team generally outperformed due to superior coaching. The media consensus puts the Friars anywhere from #4 to #8 in the conference. All of which is to say... this is a good team. Hopkins is a preseason third team All-American and Carter is an all-conference talent. That’s a strong 1-2 punch, and there are plenty of reasons to dream on Pierre’s development and Dual’s potential, making for a really dynamic drive-and-kick offense. It should be enough to make the NCAA tournament.
It could certainly go wrong. The squad is thin, the coach is unproven, and the defense could be bad. But it’s going to be interesting – and, as ever, I look forward to watching.
I’m not mad at Ed Cooley. It would be childish and immature to hold another person’s career ambitions against them. But I did lose a lot of respect for him in the way he handled the defection to Georgetown. Providence had an excellent team into late February (including a 12-4 start to conference play), with designs on a second consecutive Sweet 16 run. Those are rare in these parts and not to be taken lightly. The Georgetown rumors seemed far-fetched initially, but grew louder and louder. By the time we witnessed the Friars getting blown out by Seton Hall on the final day of the Big East regular season, it seemed like something was up. Drawing eventual National Champions UConn in the first round of the Big East tournament, Providence absolutely wilted in the first half – and only by way of a spirited second half comeback (which ultimately fell short) were they able to save their March Madness aspirations, squeaking in as an 11 seed.
After a first round tilt against Kentucky was announced, Cooley pretended like he hadn’t heard the rumors. Huh? All he needed to do on Selection Sunday – all he needed to do in the preceding month – was say “I’m under contract as the head coach of the Providence Friars and plan to be here for the long-term.” Easy. Neutralize the distraction, explain your change of heart later. Coaches do this all the time; but he chose to let the distraction fester. And fester, it did.
I was there in Greensboro, NC as the Friars fell to Kentucky. A talented team, out with a whimper. A few days later, Ed Cooley left. And it sure seemed in the moment that Providence College basketball would be facing a multi-year setback. New athletic director Steve Napolillio, thrust into the most important decision of his career, showed public defiance and galvanized fans. The coaching search quickly honed in on former Mizzou star, (briefly) NBA player, and George Mason coach Kim English.
The immediate aftermath was rough. Recruits decommitted and key players entered the transfer portal. Yikes, we all thought. But then a funny thing happened: English’s charm offensive started working. He challenged the talented rising Sophomore Jayden Pierre to a game of one-on-one, which he streamed on Instagram. The joke was that if Kim won, Jayden would take his name out of the portal. Allegedly, Kim won easily. Then Corey Floyd announced he was staying; Pierre followed suit; national top 40 recruit Garwey Dual re-committed; and finally, the stars of last season – Bryce Hopkins and Devan Carter – announced they’d be back. Whoa!
So here we sit, a week from the new season tipping off, with a team that’s pretty darn good. And a coach who is young, cool, and forward thinking. Let’s go.
- Projected Starting Five: PG - Jayden Pierre (SO); Wing - Corey Floyd (rSO); Wing - Devan Carter (JR); Forward - Bryce Hopkins (JR); Big - Josh Oduro (GR)
- Other Key Contributors: G - Garwey Dual (FR); Wing - Ticket Gaines (GR); Big - Rafael Castro (rSO)
- Rounding Out the Roster: G - Justyn Fernandez (SO); Wing - Rich Barron (FR); Forward - Donovan Santoro (FR); Forward - Luke Fonts (JR); Forward - Kieran O-Haire (JR); Big - Eli DeLaurier (FR)
Key Questions Entering the Season
- How good is Kim English at the Xs and Os of the job? Clearly he can relate to players; we’re pretty sure he can recruit. But how good is he really at game-planning and the tactical aspects of the job, with only two seasons in the HC chair under his belt? It’s fair to ask – particularly in a conference with so many outstanding coaches. Rick Pitino, Dan Hurley, Sean Miller, Greg McDermott, Ed Cooley… there aren’t many easy matchups in the Big East.
- Do they have enough size? Oduro is listed at 6’9 and 240lbs. While he’s a tough and wily vet, he’s going to be asked to guard very skilled 7-footers in Kalkbrenner of Creighton and Clingan of UConn. Behind Oduro is a talented third-year player, Rafael Castro, whose nickname is “Slim" -- not the most reassuring. Oduro and Castro are going to need to need to spread the floor, or we might be looking at some small-ball lineups featuring Hopkins at the 5, which no one wants to see (least of all, Hopkins).
- Aside from Dual, is there an upside surprise from one of the Freshman? The crop of incoming Freshman features one highly coveted recruit (Dual) and three other much less heralded prospects. Typically that means you won’t be seeing much of the latter group in Year 1. However, with the roster looking a bit thin, DeLaurier or even Barron might be pressed into action sooner than expected. Particularly with talented transfer Justyn Fernandez expected to redshirt while rehabbing a knee injury. You don’t need to look back too far to find an example of a lightly recruited player who contributed as a true Freshman (e.g., Alyn Breed in 2020).
- Speaking of Garway Dual… what do we have there? The tools and potential are tantalizing, with some mock drafts projecting him to be a one-and-done lottery pick. To me, that feels like a stretch; but if he emerges as the third scoring option (after Hopkins and Carter), that would be a huge development.
- Can they defend all five positions? Devan Carter is as good of a perimeter defender as there is in the Big East and Corey Floyd is an excellent on-ball defender. Beyond that? I see a lot of defensive question marks – coming from a team who wasn’t great defensively last year by the metrics. How much more can be expected of Hopkins, while shouldering the load on offense?; Pierre and Oduro are both undersized; Gaines (not to mention, Oduro) is jumping up a level competitively from George Mason; Freshman aren’t often defensive stalwarts. The Friars could be deceptively leaky on D, even with what will surely be a lot of highlight reel plays from Carter. A lot of that comes back to English and his scheming abilities.
KenPom has the Friars at #54 nationally and #6 in the Big East, which is roughly in line with where the analytics pegged most Cooley teams of recent vintage. Those team generally outperformed due to superior coaching. The media consensus puts the Friars anywhere from #4 to #8 in the conference. All of which is to say... this is a good team. Hopkins is a preseason third team All-American and Carter is an all-conference talent. That’s a strong 1-2 punch, and there are plenty of reasons to dream on Pierre’s development and Dual’s potential, making for a really dynamic drive-and-kick offense. It should be enough to make the NCAA tournament.
It could certainly go wrong. The squad is thin, the coach is unproven, and the defense could be bad. But it’s going to be interesting – and, as ever, I look forward to watching.
