As much as the discussion is around the portal and who Coach Hodgson will be targeting to bring to Providence via South Florida or the open portal market, the discussion should equally be around who will Coach Hodgson be looking to retain from last year’s Providence team.
Coach Hodgson spoke last night on the Kevin McNamara show about there being a few guys on the PC roster who could be potential fits into his system.
From @KevinMcNamara33 ‘s interview with Bryan Hodgson. A topic we’ve discussed on our recent podcast and spaces, and I found Coach Hodgson’s answer to be pretty good. pic.twitter.com/gkJWMtbhYU
We can all confidently say that the failures of last year’s team was not due to a team that lacked talent. There was an abundance of raw talent that just didn’t seem to click under Coach Kim English and his system. Thus, Coach Hodgson will be analyzing this past year’s roster and seeing who would be a good fit for him in his system as well as help plug any holes as he evaluates the roster for the 2026-2027 season.
We’ll evaluate each player on the Friar roster who has eligibility remaining and dissect how they may fit within the Hodgson roster construction.
Steve Napolillo got his man. After the dismissal of Kim English, Providence was looking for a guy to take on the job as head basketball coach of the Providence Friars. Bryan Hodgson is now the next head coach of the Providence Friars.
Sources: South Florida's Bryan Hodgson is finalizing a deal to be the next head coach at Providence.
The Providence Crier guys want to make note of how Hodgson ending up as Providence’s lead man is a ringing endorsement for the state of the basketball program. Providence went nose to nose with Syracuse and came out on top because the Friar basketball program has a healthier NIL and is a more appealing job than Syracuse in the current state of college basketball. Imagine stating that in a serious manner 15-20 years ago?
Times have changed, and Providence is no longer one of the “have nots”. The Providence coaching job is a Top 25 job in the country due to the collective efforts of the Providence community.
Friar alums, donors, school employees, and fans should take a bow because this doesn’t happen unless everybody is rowing the boat in the same direction. It’s a testament to how serious Providence is about winning on the big stage.
I listened to this quote from Cal early this morning and couldn’t help but feel pride in knowing Providence fits into this category.
Coach Cal praised HPU for flying students out postgame.
He added: “Administrations win championships. Coaches win games. In this era of NIL, if you’re not totally into it and they’re not committed, you’re not winning. You just can’t. And High Point is.”
I also want to take a moment to applaud Steve Napolillo. Kevin Farrahar and I were on a podcast together yesterday, and we both in unison agreed that if we were in Nap’s shoes, we’d probably play it “safe” with this potential hire and bring a veteran coach in that would provide stability.
Hodgson’s hire is Nap at the poker table doubling down on the English hire, and I genuinely commend him for trusting his gut. He knows his career is on the line, and he isn’t “playing it safe”.
Despite the English hire not working out, I praise Nap for taking a hefty cut at the plate, and he’s doing it again with Hodgson (albeit with Shark having a more credentialed resume). If Nap is going down, he is going down swinging.
This hire is Nap trying to get Providence to the upper echelon of college basketball. If it fails, it fails, but you absolutely have to applaud Steve for pushing his chips all-in. That is a guy I can get behind and support. Well done.
Hodgson the Program Fixer
Hodgson brings with him a resume of success. In his three years as a head coach, he has shown the ability to turn two programs around extraordinarily quickly. In those three years, he has achieved the benchmark 20 win season each time.
In the season before Hodgson took over Arkansas State and USF, they each had 13 wins. They were well below .500, and I think Hodgson turning them around in the first year was incredibly appealing to the Providence brass. As we saw with Willard this year at Villanova, NIL and a good coach can turn a flailing program around extremely quickly.
While expectations should be tempered with Hodgson, it’s also equally fair to expect Providence to compete for an NCAA tournament bid due to how quick adept coaches can turn around a team in one calendar year.
Roster Composition – USF Roster
In this era of free agency and NIL, it would be foolish to not look at the current roster of South Florida and see who has eligibility for the 2026-2027 season.
The first name that jumps out is Wes Enis. Enis was a junior this past year, as he played his first two years at the Division 2 level. Enis is a 6’2 guard who averaged 16 points on this USF team. Enis shoots 35% from deep and 81% from the charity stripe. Simply put, he’s a bucket. I’m sure Hodgson will be bringing him along to lead the Friar offense.
CJ Brown is another backcourt name to monitor. The 6’2 guard has spent his first two years in college at USF and hung around when Hodgson was hired, so there is a chance Brown is loyal to USF. If he follows Hodgson, he’d likely be starting alongside Enis in the backcourt. Brown is in the mold of a true lead guard that facilitates the offense, exemplified by his 4.7 assists/game to 2.0 turnovers/game. He’s not an effective or efficient shooter, but Hodgson should have enough scorers around him while Brown is the table-setter.
Xavier Brown is another 6’2 guard. By way of James Madison, Brown was in line for a major roll this year before injury derailed his season. Brown will be another veteran body in the backcourt.
Beyond those names, there aren’t many others that would be obvious additions from the USF roster for the Friars. Hodgson is going to have a massive rebuild on his hands even if he stayed at USF, as the team was very senior laden. Thus, he may look towards the PC roster, particularly at the 3-5 positions, and see which players he would like to retain.
March 23rd Update
I’ve given a deeper dive on the roster after seeing the below tweet. Do I think these are locks to join? No, but the below is causing me to re-evaluate the freshman on the USF roster who were buried behind seniors this past year and could be contributors at Providence as Sophomores and beyond. As everybody knows, I love roster continuity so if he can bring a few freshman who will be Friars for the next 2-4 years, sign me up. Hodgson has an eye for talent so I’d gladly bring along all five freshman.
The most underrated thing about Bryan Hodgson going to Providence is he sneakily had five really good freshmen that barely played and all have a genuine chance to be P5 contributors.
We’re going to look back on the 2025-26 USF team as being completely loaded. https://t.co/b6enJGULVS
Caleb Sanders – 6’6 Small Forward from Florida. He played sparingly, in only 11 games with 2 starts, but would bring more size to the PC roster at the 3/4 spot. He may know Jamier from the Florida AAU circuit? From his high school stats, he seems to be an on-ball defensive pest.
Gavin Hightower – 6’1 guard from California. Hightower was actually a key cog for USF as a role player, playing in 26 games and averaging 10 minutes as a true freshman. He saved his best for last, scoring 12 points with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and FOUR steals against Louisville. Bring him along as the guard of the future after Enis and the Browns graduate.
Tristan Beckford – 6’5 wing from Canada. Similar stat line to Sanders where he played 21 games with 1 start, but only averaged 7 minutes.
Onyx Nnani- 6’9 Forward from Canada. You may need to bring him on name alone, but he would provide size to the frontcourt, and we all know PC desperately needs that. He redshirted this year and would have 4 years of eligibility.
Adriel Nyorha – 6’5 wing from Canada. Very similar story to Beckford and Sanders. 26 games played, 2 starts, 10 minutes.
Roster Composition – Retaining PC Players
If I’m Hodgson, I’m prioritizing Jamier, Mela, and Oswin over all others on the Providence roster to help fill the holes on the roster in the front court, as the backcourt should be in a very good place with the USF transfers.
Even with a backcourt coming with him from Tampa, I’d also imagine retaining Vaaks is on the priority list due to his stellar freshman campaign and range from deep. Hodgson can sell him on his fit in his prolific three ball offense. To a lesser extent, the same pitch should be given to Harrell and Barron.
Thankfully, NIL is in a good spot, and Hodgson shouldn’t have many issues restocking the roster regardless of what the Providence players do in the portal.
Hodgson’s Fit with the Providence Community
I’ve long said that this next hire needs to be a culture hire. Providence is a unique job: the fans are rabid, they are passionate, and they expect the head coach to love the Friars as much as they do.
Hodgson’s origin story is going to fit like a glove with the blue collar mentality of the Providence faithful. Providence is a gritty town where you have to scrap and claw for everything, and I think Hodgson both can understand and appreciate that.
Hodgson spent most of his youth in foster care before getting adopted. He was not gifted any jobs in his coaching career. He grinded as a grad assistant at Fredonia State of all places and went the JuCo coaching route before landing on the staff of Nate Oats at Buffalo.
Hodgson is an underdog story, and he will absolutely resonate with the people and fanbase of Providence.
Let’s welcome Bryan Hodgson as the next coach of YOUR Providence Friars.
With the Friars in search of their 17th head coach in program history we at The Providence Crier will take a look at the candidates who have been linked to the job.
While the leader in the clubhouse as of this writing is presumably Bryan Hodgson, with some combination of Herb Sendek, Jerrod Calhoun, and Eric Olen running in second, a name that hasn’t been discussed as frequently (but probably should be heavily in the mix) is Phil Martelli Jr.
We profile the former Bryant Bulldog in more detail below and why he should be a name PC fans get more familiar with.
With the Friars in search of their 17th head coach in program history we at The Providence Crier will take a look at the candidates who have been linked to the job.
Eric Olen is a name that many Providence fans may not be familiar with. That’s because he has been coaching out west for the past 22-years. Olen, after completing a collegiate playing career for Spring Hill College (DII), became an assistant for UC San Diego in 2004. He served in that role until 2013 when he was promoted to head coach. At the time the Tritons were in D2 and Olen led the program to four tournaments in a seven season span that included 3 regular season conference championships, and four conference tournament championships. The Tritons reached the D2 Sweet 16 twice under Olen.
With the Friars in search of their 17th head coach in program history we at The Providence Crier will take a look at the candidates who have been linked to the job.
Bryan Hodgson is the metaphorical leader in the clubhouse for the vacant Providence Friar head coaching job. A young star in the coaching profession who has cut his teeth under Nate Oats and with successful stops in the Sun Belt and American conference, Hodgson is weighing his next move as a collegiate head coach. The prevailing sentiment is he will choose between staying put or jumping to Syracuse or Providence.
Below, we profile Bryan Hodgson and how he’d fit as the lead man at Providence.
With the Friars in search of their 17th head coach in program history we at The Providence Crier will take a look at the candidates who have been linked to the job.
Herb Sendek is a name we’ve seen linked for the past few weeks to the Providence Friar open coaching job. The Pitttsburgh native and Santa Clara head coach, a former Providence assistant, is a college basketball lifer. He has amassed a 600-424 record as a head coach in college basketball, with his first head coaching gig coming in 1993 at Miami of Ohio. He has been the lead man at high level institutions before, namely NC State and Arizona State, before settling in at his current job at Santa Clara. In each of his stops, he’s led his programs to 20 win seasons and has been named coach of the year in his conference at every school he’s ever been to.
Below, we break down the pros and cons of hiring Mr. Sendek.
With the Friars in search of their 17th head coach in program history we at The Providence Crier will take a look at the candidates who have been linked to the job.
Jay Larrañaga should be a familiar name in Friartown. He is the son of Friar alumn Jim Larrañaga and those PC fans who also root for the Boston Celtics will also know he was an assistant with the NBA franchise from 2012-2021.
The Kim English era is over at Providence. In his three years at the helm, he has amassed a 48-52 overall record and an astounding 13-27 record in Big East play the last two years. Kim was a risky hire from the onset, as fans hoped his recruiting reputation would exceed his lack of experience as a high major D1 head coach. Unfortunately, that did not happen, and Providence is now looking for a new coach after just three short years.
So, why did the Kim English era not work out? We provide our belief on why below.
It’s amazing how a few days can drastically change a season for a college basketball team. The Friars entered Wednesday with a chance to win out and get a 5-seed and a first round bye in the Big East. Instead they got blown out at the hands of Marquette and then it gets reported that head coach Kim English will be fired at season’s end.
Now the Friars will finish a trying regular season against a Georgetown squad that has also had their share of failures. The Hoyas have lost KJ Lewis to injury, dropped seven straight games, and can do no better than 10th in the final league standings. If the reports are true that Kim English is fired, we can look back at the first meeting with the Hoyas earlier this year as the straw that broke the camel’s back. The Friars blew a 21-point lead and saw Ed Cooley get his first win at the AMP as an opposing coach. From there, it seemed the Kim English departure was a matter of when, not if.
For the Friar fanbase, this is an interesting watch. There isn’t anything to play for besides seeding, but Friar fans will inevitably tune in to see how English coaches this team with his fate already sealed. Will the team sleepwalk through this one like they did Marquette or will the firing galvanize the Friars to rally around their coach? That’s what we’re most looking forward to seeing.
Providence had a lot going for it heading into last night’s game: three game winning streak, Senior Day celebration, players returning from suspension and injury, and a path to a Big East Tournament bye. With all that directly in front of them, Providence saved its worst for last at home by getting annihilated by the last place Marquette Golden Eagles 78-56.
As we’ve all seen by now, it has been reported by multiple sources that Providence and Kim English are parting ways after the season. The result from last night encapsulated many of the issues with the Kim English era, unfortunately.
This is the English tenure to a tee.
Team starts to build positive momentum, fans buy back-in, and then the team completely throws up on themselves in a “big” game.
This trend is infuriating as a fan and somebody who covers this team.
I’ve written many times that the only consistent quality of this Friar program is their inconsistency. Providence under English has always been a “one step forward, two steps back”. Think to just this year alone: massive St. John’s road win followed by laying an egg against Xavier. Providence was arguably the hottest team in the Big East over the last week, and they completely sleptwalked and got “big-boy’ed” by Marquette on their home court. The game was never close, as Marquette jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back.
It was the same story that has ailed Providence all year: turnovers absolutely derailed the Friars. Providence was averaging 5.5 turnovers over the last two games, and the optimist in me thought maybe their ball possession issues were remedied. In reality, it was just a two game outlier. PC had 19 turnovers, and seemed like they had about 15 more than that number. Marquette was hounding them all night on defense, with their man defense exemplifying the lack of true ball handlers on the Friar roster.
In their three game winning streak, PC has attempted 17.6 3’s and turned the ball over 9.7 times/game
PC is on pace to shoot 26 three’s. They’ve gone completely away from an offensive strategy that works. Sigh.
Mike and I nervously discussed the return of Vaaks and Powell, concerned that their addition back into the rotation would hurt the positive rotation built over the last three games. Sometimes, more depth isn’t a good thing, and a smaller rotation forces the staff to not tinker. That was a prescient prediction, as the team and rotation were all out of sorts. Vaaks is a good player for a freshman, but can be a complete black hole on offense, and we saw that last night, going 1-12 and 0-8 from 3. We implored pregame that English needed to have a quick hook if Vaaks started playing selfish. He did the exact opposite, and it was an atrocious style of basketball being played.
The thing that frustrated me the most last night was that the offensive strategy went so against what had been working the last three games. PC shot 30 three’s, 13 more than they had averaged over the last 3 games. PC had won the last three games by playing at the rim and kicking out for high quality three’s. Last night, they reverted back to horrific tendencies where the offense was east west and chucking from the perimeter.
English postgame talked about Marquette’s stellar man defense and playing the gaps, essentially preventing the dribble drive and kick-out. Why not adjust with off ball-movement, back cuts, and making Marquette suffer with their ball watching? The Providence offense is too much of “my man beats your man”. It works when you have Devin Carter. As we’ve seen the last two years, this NBA centric offense fails more often than succeeds. It relies on talent superiority rather than a reliable offensive system with set principles.
For whomever the next coach is, I want a coach that prioritizes defense above all else. Marquette showed last night that a good defense will beat a good offense more often than not. Offense can be fleeting, but defense tends to be consistent night in and out. I’m tired of watching a Providence team go ice cold offensively, turn the ball over recklessly, and not able to claw back into the game because they don’t have a strong defensive identity.
For whatever the future holds, a prerequisite for next year’s team is a strong emphasis on defense first above all else. That’d be legitimately my first mandate heading into 2026-2027.
A good defense travels with you home or away. Offense can be fleeting, as we saw tonight
In short, last night was a disaster. The worst part of it all is that all the goodwill this team had built over the last week has disappeared as we head into the Big East Tournament. Most fans are just looking for the season to conclude, whereas a win last night would cause a cavalry of Friar fans to invade The Garden. For Kim and the Friars, they have nobody to blame but themselves.
With this news leaking, the game against Georgetown to wrap up the season just got a bit more interesting.
Providence is in the midst of a three game win streak and have a new outlook on the rest of the season. The vibes are riding high in Friartown, and they have a chance to get even higher with this match-up at home against Marquette on Senior Night. Not only will the seniors be getting honored, but the return of Duncan Powell will lead to an even more jubilant, raucous environment. The Friars have a lot going for it right now, but in comes Marquette and the pesky Golden Eagles who stole one from Providence earlier in the year.
Led by sensational freshman guard Nigel James Jr., Marquette and Shaka have had a very down year by Marquette standards as they rebuild their roster through the traditional means of high school recruiting. Despite the down season, Marquette is going to D up the Friars and play the Friars tough like they always do. Although just a freshman, James has the ability to take over this game, especially against a Providence team that has struggled to effectively guard ball dominant point guards (James and Budd Clark come to mind).
English seems to have a really good pulse on this team, but he needs to ensure they aren’t smelling the roses early and reading the press clippings too frequently. This team is still a game below .500 and needs to stay completely locked in if they want to head into Big East Tournament week on a wave of positive momentum.
It’s been a trying season for the Friars with so many close losses but they’re starting to turn a corner during the most important stretch of the season. PC went to Omaha and defeated the Creighton Blue Jays for the first time since January 20th, 2021. With the victory the Friars have won 3 in a row for the first time since defeating Brown back in December and it’s their first 3-game win streak in the Big East since February of 2024. The Friars are also now winners of five of seven and are in 7th in the Big East with a chance to climb as high as 4th. Jaylin Sellers once again led the way for the Friars with his second consecutive game of 27 points and scored a critical hoop late that put PC up 3 with 15 seconds left.
