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Providence Looks to Start a Winning Streak – PC vs. Sacred Heart Game Preview

Providence looks to start the season 2-0 after a close victory against Fairfield. Sacred Heart is 1-0 on the season after beating LaSalle 86-81 in overtime in their season opener.

Game Details: 6:30 PM Tip at Dunkin Donuts Center

TV Details: FS1

Betting Details: Providence is favored by 15.5 and is 0-1 against the spread so far this year

Below we provide some background on Sacred Heart, what we are looking for in this game, and give predictions on final score.

Providence Opens the Season with a Close Win Against Fairfield, 80-73

The 2021-2022 season is upon us, and it was fantastic to see the Dunk packed with fans. The Friar team made the game closer than all anticipated (although, maybe we shouldn’t have expected a blowout), but still come out of the game with a win.

After watching the game again, here are some immediate takeaways:

Hot Takes & Bold Predictions Ahead of the 2021-2022 Season

The Crier and I have some bold takes we want to put out ahead of the start of the season. Feel free to hold our feet to the fire on these.

Unanswered Questions Heading into Season Opener

With the season less than a week away, we decided to put together a list of outstanding questions heading into the season. A majority of these questions can also be framed as potential concerns that could derail Providence from making the NCAA Tournament. We detail our questions below and how we anticipate these questions being answered.

Takeaways from “Secret” Scrimmage against Purdue

𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥.#GoFriars pic.twitter.com/Y4mEGvqEEY
— Providence MBB (@PCFriarsmbb) October 30, 2021

Earlier today, Providence hosted #7 Purdue in a preseason scrimmage. While we weren’t able to attend said scrimmage (maybe…just maybe…one day), the detailed box score was released, along with a few clips from the Providence Basketball social media account.

Providence defeated Purdue 89-88 in overtime. While it is noteworthy to mention that players couldn’t foul out (more on that in a bit), Friar fans can walk away from this game knowing they have the ability to compete with the best teams in the nation. Make no mistake about it, Purdue has the pieces to be a Final Four type squad.

Here are our main takeaways after digesting the various amount of content available:

Big East Preview from the Providence Crier Staff

We’ve made it through the offseason, folks. It is college basketball time. We couldn’t be happier to put last year behind us. Hope springs eternal (or something like that).

The Crier and I preview below our thoughts on Big East Preseason Rankings, First Team All Conference, and individual accolades. We then put a Providence twist on things by naming individual awards for players on the PC team.

Class of 2023 Ranking Updates – Relevant Names for the Friars

With the Class of 2022 seemingly complete for the Friars (a slight chance at adding another wing recruit), we turn the page to the 2023 recruiting cycle. The recruiting behemoth 247 sports recently updated the Class of 2023 rankings, and there are a handful of names that are being heavily pursued by the Providence Friars. We detail names of significance below

https://247sports.com/Season/2023-Basketball/RecruitRankings/?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool

Analyzing the Flurry of Recent Friar Offers

Over the past week, the Providence Friar staff has been busy with new offers. To our knowledge, the staff have offered the following players recently: Jahmari Hamilton-Brown, George Turkson, Kur Teng, and Enkhiin-Od Michael Sharavjamts. We analyze each of these players individually below and take a holistic view of what these offers mean for the Friars program.

How Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Will Bring College Basketball Back to The Glory Days

If you haven’t been following the news around college basketball recently, a ruling was passed by the NCAA that allows college athletes to be paid off their name, image, and likeness. Essentially, college athletes can be paid like professionals now (endorsement deals, sponsorships, trademarking, etc.).

While most are focusing on how positive this is for the specific student athlete (which it certainly is, without question), I’ve been thinking more and more about how this ruling is going to bring college basketball to heights it hasn’t reached since the 80’s and 90’s. In my humble opinion, we are about to experience a level of college basketball unlike any I’ve seen since I religiously started following college basketball in the early 2000’s.

Friars Land 2022 Guard Quante Berry – Analyzing The Player and Impact to Friar Program

"I am going to be a combo guard playing on and off the ball. I can score at all 3 levels."@quante_berry on @PCFriarsmbb
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) July 5, 2021

Quante Berry, the 2022 combo guard from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, earlier this week chose to commit to the Providence Friars over a slew of top tier programs. Berry is the first commit of the 2022 class (we’ll ignore a certain previous 2022 commitment that spurned the Friar fanbase).