With the summer here, Mike and I will spend the dog days of the offseason bantering about team expectations, ceiling and floor for this squad, MVP candidates, surprise candidates, etc. Inevitably, Mike and I will yell at each other over text saying one of us is right and one of us is wrong. I’m usually right, but that is besides the point…
What better way to get a pulse on how the fanbase is thinking about this upcoming year than an anonymous fan survey? I put together 10 questions that I thought would give readers a good sense of how the average fan is thinking about this roster. We received approximately 300 responses, so clearly even in July the energy around the program is palpable.
Without further do, see the results below.
Question 1: How would you define a successful first season for Bryan Hodgson?
Top 5 in Big East and Narrowly Miss Tournament: 3%
Loss in First Game of NCAA Tournament: 25%
Win One Game in NCAA Tournament: 55%
Second Weekend and Beyond: 17%
BOC Thoughts: I voted for a baseline successful season being one where the minimum is making the NCAA tournament and losing in opening round of NCAA tournament. My logic is that we’ve missed the last 3 NCAA Tournaments so securing a bid is a positive Year 1 for Hodgson. If I couldn’t vote for that, I would have said making it to the Round of 32 before losing. With the rumored NIL of this team, I can understand why 55% voted for this option; however, I think a bid back to the NCAA tournament constitutes a successful season and step in the right direction for the future.
Question 2: Who is Going to be Team MVP?
Dink Pate: 33%
Miles Byrd: 53%
Other: 14%
BOC Thoughts: I voted for Byrd, but I thought he was going to run second in this voting to be honest. We have a smart fanbase, and I think the PC fans recognize that Byrd has done it at a high level already at the collegiate level, whereas Pate is more of the shiny new object that is an unknown. Byrd is probably the safer pick, while Pate is the high upside and less safe pick.
One final thought: I was surprised “Other” received 14%. That was higher than I had anticipated.
Question 3: Who is going to be the surprise player for Providence this year?
Precursor to responses: I had this be a “fill-in” because I didn’t want to limit the choices, as I expected the results to be relatively evenly spread out. And the fans came through, as you’ll see below. I believe it’s a testament to both the depth of the roster and how little we know about this team. It’s a new coach, new system, and whole new roster of players outside of Mela. I’m not surprised there wasn’t a runaway answer.
Gavin Hightower: 18% of votes
Ryan Sabol: 15% of votes
Clyde Walters: 4% of votes
Ryan Mela: 20% of votes
Samson Aletan: 4% of votes
Arringten Page: 7% of votes
Malik Mack: 9% of votes
Devin Vanterpool: 11% of votes
Bannarbie: 3% of votes
Other players on the roster received anywhere from 1-3% of votes.
Shout-out to the fans who wrote in the following: Tee Butters (2 votes), Bryce Hopkins and yours truly.
If I’m a surprise performer for the Friars, things have gone terribly wrong, and my wife would assume a mid-life crisis, but I appreciate the vote of confidence.
Question 4: Where do you have Providence pre-season in the Big East?
1-3: 22%
4-5: 75%
6-7: 3%
BOC Thoughts: After seeing the results, I wish I adjusted the question to be the following options: 1-4, 5-7, 8-11, as I think the Friars should be in the 4-6 range, and the scores would probably have been a bit more evenly spread out.
I personally would have Providence at 5 or 6, with me slightly leaning towards 6 as of this writing. The slotting in at 6 is not an indictment on the PC roster, but more so a testament to the work the other schools in their range (Xavier, Creighton, Marquette, Villanova) did in the portal.
Question 5: Which player from last year’s team (with eligibility this year) would be the best fit under Coach Hodgson?
Jamier Jones: 77%
Stefan Vaaks: 18%
Oswin Erhunmwunse: 5%
BOC Thoughts: I was shocked to see Jamier Jones run away with this one. My vote would have been with Vaaks, and I thought he would have been the clear winner after fans saw what Pinion and Enis did at USF last year. My guess is fans think Jones is system proof and will produce wherever he plays, which I can’t say I disagree with.
Question 6: What is going to be the strength of this Providence team?
Lead Guard Play: 9%
Wings: 69%
Frontcourt: 2%
Coaching Staff: 20%
BOC Thoughts: I threw in the coaching staff option because when initially drafting this question, I had a feeling “Wings” would get 90%+ of the votes. I was happy to see the staff get so much love, and I do think it is warranted.
As I said on a prior pod, all Bryan Hodgson does is win 20+ games each season. Until he falls short of that mark, I’m going to continue to buy into him. We’ll see if this staff’s ability can translate to the Big East level.
Question 7: What is the biggest unknown this year for the Providence Friars?
Guard Play: 13%
Wings: 2%
Frontcourt: 64%
Big East Coaching Experience: 21%
BOC Thoughts: My vote would have been with the frontcourt. I think Aletan is going to be a high floor/low ceiling big, which is a necessity on this roster, but I do wonder if his game can translate from the Ivy League to Big East. We have horror stories with bigs graduating up a level or two from their prior school and not performing well.
Conversely, Page has all the raw talent in the world, but his career has been defined by his hot and cold streaks. Can he string together a consistent season? I don’t know, and I think most fans are afraid to buy into the frontcourt quite yet.
Question 8: How many wins does Providence get this year?
15 or less: 1%
16-20: 28%
21-25: 68%
25 or more: 3%
BOC Thoughts: The vast majority of the votes being in the 21-25 range means fans think this team will likely be a bubble squad/last in to the tourney. Let’s just hope they are on the right side of the bubble.
Question 9: Which metric is better (higher) by season’s end?
KenPom Offense: 15%
KenPom Defense: 23%
Screw KenPom: 62%
BOC Thoughts: Remember during the Cooley Big East regular season championship season when KenPom was the bane of our existence for the luck narrative? Let’s get back to that discourse, shall we?
On a serious note, I think we’ll be higher in KenPom Defense than KenPom Offense. I love what we brought in defensively.
And now…saving the best question for last…drumroll please.
Question 10: What is one change you’d like to see made at the AMP to improve home court advantage and/or game-day experience?
BOC Precursor: A lot of these responses I’d actually recommend putting in front of AMP leadership if I were an executive at Providence. PC fans get a bad rep on the internet (some of it warranted, some of it being passion and misunderstood by casual fans), but I found myself nodding in agreement with a lot of these recommendations.
The majority of responses were centered around putting students closer to the court. I love this, as I know a lot of the voters aren’t students, and this shows that long time fans realize the importance of a rabid student fanbase.
I’ve included some of the best answers below, along with some of the funniest responses. You’ll be sure to get a belly laugh out of a few of these. I included some commentary on noteworthy ones.
“No more 6-7 on the screen”
BOC Comment: Crier, was this you?
“More bathrooms and expanding the number and size of bathrooms”
“Make it easier for season ticket holders and students to buy additional seats for big games before releasing to the general public”
“I don’t know”
BOC Comment: Thanks.
“Cheaper prices and better food”
“Bring back Tallboys”
“Move student section closer to the court”
“Students need to be on top of the court and right on the sideline”
“ICE”
BOC Comment: Deportations at the AMP? Wanting literal ice for their refreshments? Complaining about the hockey rink below the court? Trying to follow along here.
“Win more games”
BOC Comment: Wow, what a novel concept.
“Improve sound and video board. Too loud and too poor of quality”
“It’ll never happen, but it would improve the home environment to have student section mid-court a la Cameron Crazies”
“Foxy Lady halftime show”
BOC Comment: I may drive up for every home game if they institute this.
“Better game-day presentation. Light effects, timely music, etc. Gameday presentation feels very JV for a high major program”
BOC Comment: I completely agree with this sentiment.
“Jaws Music”
“Eliminate the stand until we score”
BOC Comment: YES. I’ve been calling for this for years. It does Providence no good at all and just creates anxiety and tension for the Providence team and fans if they don’t score instantly to start the half. Be done with this entirely.
“$1 beer night”
“Figure out condensation issues on court”
BOC Comment: Yeah, good luck with that. And pigs will fly soon too.
“Remove end zone buffer between student section and court”
“There are so many things that need a complete overhaul. They’ve been using the same clips for years. I’m so over Cheers, Rocky, We Will Rock You, Animal House, etc. They need to invest serious money into overall game-day experience”
“More weekend afternoon games”
“Play top Big East teams when students are on campus and not on Christmas break”
“Better gear at team store”
“T-Shirt giveaways to make the crowd all black and white colors”
“More white-outs”
“Crier face cut-outs on sticks”
BOC Comment: I said improve game-day experience…
“Demolish the place”
BOC Comment: Well, alright then. Mondays, am I right?
Summary
That concludes the results for the 2026-2027 fan survey. Thank you to everybody for contributing. It was a fun exercise and one we will continue to do moving forward.
Go Friars!