It’s been a whirlwind of a few weeks for both Providence College athletic director Steve Napolillo and Bryan Hodgson. On Tuesday afternoon in front of a full crowd at Alumni Hall Steve introduced Coach Hodgson as the 17th head coach in program history. Bryan, his wife Jordan, and son Jett entered Alumni Hall and received a loud ovation.
Coach Hodgson touched upon a number of topics and expectations as Providence men’s basketball enters their centennial season next year. We take a look on a few notable quotes below.
“If you ever want to question my recruiting abilities just take a look at my wife Jordan”
It’s always great to start an introduction presser with a banger like this. All joking aside though Hodgson is known as an elite recruiter earning himself the nickname “the shark”. He opined on how he was able to land Jaden Bradley and Brandon Miller while at Alabama in the pre-NIL era. Miller was the 2nd overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft, playing for the Charlotte Hornets. Jaden Bradley is currently a starter for an Arizona team that’s playing in the Sweet 16 this weekend. With the resources that PC has coupled with Hodgson’s recruiting abilities guys like a Kris Dunn or Jamier Jones should be a more regular occurrence in Friartown.
“We are going to be on the national stage and compete to win the Big East right away. We are going to compete to win more than the Big East right away, we are going to play in the NCAA Tournament and compete at the highest level and I can promise you that.”
Coach Hodgson sounds confident when he says he can flip this thing immediately, and I believe him. It’s one of the bigger reasons we wanted Hodgson because he has shown this capability of doing so. In one season at USF he had the Bulls run away with the AAC, win the conference tournament and play in the NCAA Tournament. It feels like forever since the Friars were in the Big Dance. It’s only been three years but the last year they made the dance it truly didn’t feel like it with a coach having one foot out the door. Some of the other candidates, if chosen, may have seen a slower build but in this era Hodgson can get us back right away.
“- I couldn’t do it without my coaching staff. And I’ll tell ya they’re all coming with me from the University of South Florida and here’s why. It’s very important to me, nothing bothers me more than people who get an opportunity like this and leave behind the people who have worked just as hard if not harder than me to put us in that position.”
Coach Hodgson confirmed that his entire staff, except for Tobin Anderson who took the Tennessee Tech job, will come aboard in Providence. It’s hard to argue considering his staff has been with him since his first year at Arkansas State, and all they’ve done is win. It was also apparently mentioned in the post speech media scrum that associate head coach Tee Butters will also assume a role of a general manager. GM’s are becoming a new trend in college basketball, and PC will be following suit.
“The fans are what ultimately drove me to ‘yes’”
This program has been hit with a lot of adversity over the past three seasons but one thing remained consistent: fans still showed up and people still care. You can’t say the same about some of the other openings which we won’t name. Now enter Bryan Hodgson who truly wants to rally the community and understands the mindset of a northeast sports fan. It certainly appears the coach will fit in with this fanbase quite fine.
“In 4-5 months, you’ll regret leaving here”
Besides the comment about his wife and his recruiting ability, this may have been my favorite quote of the entire presser. I found it captivating that all of the Providence players with eligibility, sans Stefan Vaaks, were present for the introductory press conference. It appears quite apparent that Hodgson will be recruiting a lot of these PC guys to stay while also bringing over some USF talent.
Sunmary
For Friar fans in attendance or streaming it on YouTube, you had to leave Coach Hodgson’s speech with enthusiasm and optimism about the program. We would’ve quoted his comments about his basketball coaching style but those would’ve been long too write. But in short, the Friars are going to look to play an efficient brand of offensive basketball with a defense that will be suffocating. Sign me up!
Coach Hodgson has a ton of confidence in his and his staff’s ability to build a winner. It’s certainly hard to argue with given his early success as a coach and doing just that at two stops.
The only downside of the press conference is the season can’t come soon enough. Luckily we will have plenty of stories to monitor as Coach Hodgson and staff re-recruit the some guys on the current roster and construct a roster to deliver another winner in Friartown.