In the age of NIL and not having as many restrictions on player movement, NCAA has essentially become the Wild West. The transfer portal should expect to see over a thousand entries with players looking for new homes this upcoming season.
The Friars figure to be very active in the portal looking to replace athletes like Josh Oduro, Ticket Gaines, and most likely Devin Carter. PC has also seen players of their own enter the portal with junior Rafael Castro, and freshman Garwey Dual and Donovan Santoro submitting their names.
We will take a look at a bevy of players the Friars are involved with or someone we think could be great fits on the team.
Anger, disappointment, frustration, and confusion are probably the emotions felt by the Friars players and staff after not being included in the NCAA Tournament. A year where you achieved 21 wins, with 6 of those being Quad 1 victories and no bad loses in Q3/4 in a conference as good as the Big East, should be enough to make the NCAA tournament. This year, for whatever reason, those credentials weren’t enough. Despite all this, those emotions have to be quickly pushed to the side as there is basketball to be played.
The Friars will open up the NIT as a 3-seed hosting Boston College at the AMP. It will be the first time PC has met this local and former Big East foe since 2018, a 5-point OT victory for the Eagles at Conte Forum. The Eagles were 19-15 this season under 3rd year coach Earl Grant, finishing 11th in the ACC. Here are some things to monitor for this game.
A week ago, the Friars were sitting in a great spot. Either a road upset over Marquette or a home win versus Villanova would all but solidify a NCAA tournament bid. Instead, Milwaukee remained a city of horrors for PC and then the offense would stall at the worst time against Villanova.
So here the Friars sat with their backs against the wall with two games remaining on the schedule. Many thought the Friars tournament chances would be dead, but they sat on life support for the final two games of the season. The Friars have once again responded with a win over Georgetown on Tuesday night, which will now set up a huge matchup against UConn at home on Saturday. Devin Carter led the way, but the Friars got contributions throughout the lineup and found themselves with a double-digit road victory. Lets see how the Friars swept the Hoyas.
Going into the game against #5 Marquette, the Friars had only lost three games by double digits. Despite one of those coming to start the month of February, the way the Friars were playing lately you felt they’d at least make Wednesday night’s game competitive.
That would not be the case as Marquette jumped on the Friars early and never looked back enroute to a 91-69 loss in Milwaukee. Kim English questioned the effort of his squad in the postgame. While the Crier doesn’t fully agree, there is no question Marquette came out the more locked in team. The loss puts the Friars at 18-10 (9-8) on the year with three remaining regular season games. Let’s take a look at how it all went down.
The last time the Friars went on the road, they fought to earn a late lead but ultimately fell to Butler. On the road at Xavier Wednesday night, the Friars would put themselves in a familiar position, but this time they were able to close it out with a 79-75 victory.
Similarly to the contest against Butler, the Friars saw great contributions up and down the lineup. Jayden Pierre provided a scoring boost, Floyd Jr and Rich Barron made timely plays, and Ticket Gaines came in clutch with a game saving block with two free throws to ice it.
It took a team effort to get a road win against a Xavier team that beat them in Providence back in January. The Friars are now winners of 7 of 10 games since the loss to the Musketeers and moved much closer to making the NCAA tournament.
Providence lands a massive tournament resume win against Xavier 79-75.
Four players in double digits with Oduro not being one of those four. This is the complete game we’ve been waiting for from the role players.
Kim English is off to a great start in the 2025 recruiting class landing big man Oswin Erhunmwunse. It looks like they aren’t done trying to add other big time recruits to go along with their star big man. Kim English is hunting for Top 50 talent in the 2025 class.
One of those that could possibly join Oswin in Friartown is Oak Ridge’s Jamier Jones. If you follow along with PC recruiting, this is a name the Friars have been linked to for some time. So he’s a name you should definitely get to know.
ICYMI, Jamier Jones was a 2024 @FlyinToTheHoop All-Tourney Team selection
29pts (13-14FG), 5 reb,2 blk,2ast,2 stl in an OT win vs Reynoldsburg
There’s another coach who will be making his return to Providence this year. Rick Pitino makes his 9th trip to Providence as a head coach of the opposition when St. Johns comes to town on Tuesday. Rick owns a 6-2 record over the school he took to a Final 4 in 1987; however, he has dropped his previous two games when returning to 1 LaSalle Square.
After making his return to college basketball three years ago at Iona, Pitino had his sights set on his next and possibly final coaching spot this past offseason. With the Friars looking for a head coach some thought it was possible for a Pitino to make a return to Friartown, but he would instead be hired by former Friar President Father Brian Shanley to coach the Red Storm. He certainly won’t get the same reception as the last former coach to return to Providence, but PC fans will be rowdy and raucous in hopes to help get their Friars back in the win column after a tough defeat at the hands of Butler on Saturday.
St. Johns and PC will square off in a snowy Amica Mutual Pavillion on Tuesday night in a game that has serious NCAA tournament implications. Both the Friars and Johnnies find themselves on the proverbial bubble and needing a win to bolster their respective resumes. The Johnnies were able to get a 75-73 victory over Providence at Madison Square Garden in January, and the Friars should be looking to avenge that loss. St. John’s has dropped their last 4 road games but have been a tough road opponent, knocking off Villanova in Philadelphia early this year and only losing at Creighton and Connecticut by a combined 5 points. Both teams really need a win and should have a classic Big East battle on our hands.
The Friars had the deck stacked against them from the jump in this one. PC went into Hinkle having already lost Bryce Hopkins for the season to a torn ACL. On top of that, there was the late notice they would be without Josh Oduro and would also have a limited Jayden Pierre in a critical Big East Battle.
Yet, the Friars battled and put themselves in a great position to secure a big victory for their postseason resume. The Friars would erase a 10 point deficit and take a 7-point lead over Butler with around 4 minutes to play. A turnover here, countless missed free throws, and Butler would reclaim a 1-point advantage in the final seconds.
Unfortunately for the Friars, a late Corey Floyd drive to the rim full of contact was not called a foul by the officials, and PC was denied an opportunity to tie or take the lead in a game in which they seemed to fight hard enough to deserve.
This is Butler’s game winning no call. Floyd gets hammered. Nothing. No whistle. Terrible job officials. pic.twitter.com/uhsn77Z1z0
The 2023-2024 Friars have faced their share of adversity throughout the year. In the Bahamas back in November is where the adversity first struck. In a heart-breaking overtime loss to Kansas State, the Friars would lose their starting point guard Jayden Pierre due to injury. They would also have to suspend Garwey Dual a game for his involvement in a scuffle with Kansas St’s Dede Ames. The Friars would have to take on a solid UGA squad without two of its guards and would respond with a 71-64 win over the Dawgs.
Then the worst thing imaginable that could happen to this team happened. Bryce Hopkins tore his ACL on January 4th. Since then, the Friars are still scrambling looking for answers to make up for his production. Their latest dose of adversity came in this past Sunday’s game against Villanova. It was one of the Friars worst games in years, losing 68-50 in what Kim English would describe “a piss poor performance”. Kim was so furious from the performance he suggested changes could be coming. Make no mistake Villanova needed Sunday’s game more than the Friars, but the team experienced a new low, only mustering 16 points in the first half against the Wildcats.
Now with about a month and a half left in the season, the Friars find themselves with work to do to make a return to the NCAA Tournament. That work starts Wednesday night with # 19 Creighton Blue Jays coming to town. Ironically enough, these Blue Jays were the first team the Friars faced after losing Bryce Hopkins, a 69-60 win for the Jays. PC gave Creighton more than a run for their money though only trailing by a point with 4 minutes left to play. Let’s take a look at what we could possibly see in this one.
The Friars went into Storrs, CT Wednesday night looking to get perhaps the biggest win of the college basketball season. PC would battle all night against UConn in a what could’ve been a fun game had it not been for the complete ref show. The Friars would lead the majority of the first half and be within striking distance the entire second half. After 46 combined fouls and four technical fouls, it would be the Huskies who would defend their home court and get a 74-65 victory. Let’s take a deeper look on a long night of basketball.
It’s a shame that 99% of the conversation around this game will be about the refs. They stole the show, which isn’t a compliment. Donny Marshall applauding the refs further cements that belief.
Regardless, PC isn’t going to win many games going 50% from the free throw line.
Typically, when you play a team second in the Big East on the road in January it isn’t a must win. While maybe we won’t got as far as saying Wednesday night in Newark was a must win for the Friars, it was certainly one they needed to grab for their NCAAT chances. And grab it they did, winning on the road 67-63 over the Pirates despite trailing by double digits in the second half. The Friars got a balanced attack from Oduro, Carter, Gaines, and Pierre and truly dug in defensively in the second stanza to snag the road victory. PC now stands at 13-6 (4-4) on the year and suddenly look to be back in the conversation for the field of 68. Lets see how they got it done.
What a win for Providence. They looked defeated in the 2nd half, but turned it around through defensive stops and clutch play from Oduro.
The Providence Friars are on a 2 game winning streak with Ed Cooley returning to town
We can all collectively take a deep breath. The year 2024 couldn’t have started off worse for these Friars. Losing Bryce Hopkins to a torn ACL hurt. Losing the game to Seton Hall where Bryce was hurt. Then the Friars go on a three game losing streak, and the season seemed doomed.
However, the Friars took the first step in getting the season back on track with a commanding 100-62 victory over DePaul on Wednesday night in Chicago. For PC, it was the first win of 2024 and the first true road game of the Kim English Era. Spare me that it is only one game and it was DePaul. It is only one game, and it was against DePaul, but damn it the Friars needed this one in the worst way for their confidence moving forward.
We revisit some of the things to watch for from our preview article and how they executed those items, as well as highlight various other takeaways from the game.
