PROVIDENCE – This wasn’t supposed to be another rebuilding year for Providence. It was supposed to be the year that last season’s young team started to really come together and move towards being an NCAA Tournament team after taking some lumps. But after a couple of off-court incidents led to three players leaving the school before their eligibility was up, including the team’s top scorer and rebounder, the Friars will enter this season in a very similar place to last year.
How young is this team? The Friars have nine freshmen, seven of them true freshmen. Six players saw the Dunkin’ Donuts Center floor for the first time in their lives when they played an exhibition game against Division II powerhouse Bentley. They will be the youngest team in the Big East.
Like last year, the Friars have an athletic team built to press teams into submission. And while they had good stretches with it, they allowed 82 points per game, nearly seven more points per game than any other team in the Big East. It wasn’t just a product of playing at a fast pace, as opponents shot a blistering 47.1 percent from the field against them.
In other words, there is room for improvement at that end of the floor. That’s the first challenge for this team, and they had their moments with it in the exhibition win over Bentley.
“There were times out there where I really liked our effort – I liked what we were doing with our intensity,” said head coach Keno Davis. “We don’t know how to do it yet.”
The young Friars will rely primarily on a senior and a sophomore early on. Marshon Brooks was once in the position that the freshmen are in, and he’s grown as a player in his career. If he can be more consistent, the Friars will have a solid team leader capable of putting up big numbers. Sophomore point guard Vincent Council will run the show and is a team leader as well, having wasted little time asserting himself as the team’s floor leader last year.
Another sophomore, big man Bilal Dixon, should also start. That’s where the freshmen come into the mix, although the only other sophomore they have, Duke Mondy, could also see a start or two along the way. Mondy had some good moments last year and brings good intangibles to the court.
The freshmen come in next. Gerard Coleman enters with the biggest reputation, as the athletic wing can really light it up and especially in transition. The lefty is a terrific finisher with a jump shot that has improved over time, but he’ll also need to get stronger. Bryce Cotton and Dre Evans should also figure into the backcourt mix, as could redshirt freshman Xavier Davis.
The frontcourt has plenty of bodies as well, including the team’s other senior in Ray Hall. Expect Hall to see a few minutes, although he doesn’t fit the team’s running style. He’s a fan favorite and effort is never a concern with him. Redshirt freshman Kadeem Batts appears to be the incumbent to start alongside Dixon, while freshmen Brice Kofane, Ron Giplaye and Lee Goldsbrough are also in the mix. Goldsbrough is a change-of-pace player as a face-up shooter, and at 6’9″ can cause some matchup problems. Giplaye is simply a warrior, not likely to put up big scoring numbers but sure to give opposing post players headaches from his physical play.
With a young team comes a learning curve, and that’s definitely noticeable. The Friars haven’t put in all of their offense yet, although that’s partly motivated by focusing more on defense after last season’s atrocious showing at that end of the floor. Intangibles have been a focus as well with so many young guys. Mondy spoke of keeping the young players up after being a little humbled in their first game at another level after they were used to being stars previously.
“Physically we’re there, mentally we’ve got to be there because everybody’s good, playing Division I basketball everybody’s going to be good,” said the sophomore guard.
Providence’s non-conference schedule was clearly put together with a young team in mind, although it wasn’t obvious this team would be so young until about a month after the season. The Friars will play just three games away from home, and among the home games only Alabama and in-state rival Rhode Island are likely to strike a lot of fear in anyone although they also play MEAC favorite Morgan State early on. The Friars will want to get some wins so they can head into Big East play with confidence.
After a long off-season, the Friars are surely happy we can now talk about basketball. With the young team they have, the conversation could be a little like last year for a while to come as patience is the name of the game.
