State of PC Sports

The buzz word in the Providence College Department of Athletics these days is progress. In terms of facilities, player development, recruitment, and perhaps, most importantly, the Men's Basketball Team, the department is making great strides as we close out another school year.

With the revamping of the Dunkin' Donuts Center, a lacrosse team that is headed to its eighth straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament, and 92 percent student-athlete graduation rate, the foreseeable future looks bright in Friartown.

According to athletics Director Robert Driscoll, this is "a very special time in the history of PC athletics," all because of the growth that is underway right now.

Friartown Rebuilding

It's impossible to walk around the PC campus or attend a men's basketball game without noticing all of the construction that has been taking place.

The basketball team was forced off its home court until late November 2007 and therefore had to start its season on the road. Driscoll assures us that there will be no such delays in 2008.

"We hope to have up to 18 home games there this season," said Driscoll.

Fans will return to new seats and a new concourse, and everything there is on track to be completed by November.

"We have all new seats going in," Driscoll said. "They are black and will look spectacular; we also have new entrances, a sports shop, and an atrium connecting to the Convention Center."

The Dunk is not the only facility receiving a facelift. September 2007 saw the opening of the Concannon Fitness Center, a new, state-of-the-art fitness center on campus. In addition to serving the general PC population, there are a number of projects underway within Concannon to better serve the varsity athletes on campus.

"We have a 3500-square-foot varsity weight room," Driscoll said. "It gives us a spectacular advantage in training and recruiting. We're putting the finishing touches on the sports medicine area in the fall along with two aqua tubs, including one with a treadmill. It's very state-of-the-art."

The last project currently underway is the renovation of the Friar Athletic Hall of Fame in the Men's Basketball Wing of Alumni Hall. A generous gift from alum Joe Calabria '65 and his wife, Sugar, is funding the revamp.

"It's about 80 percent done right now," Driscoll said. "We're getting new plaques this summer and we'll have a Walk of Fame with interactive video."

While construction is winding down at the Dunk and on campus, the trucks aren't ready to pull away just yet. Driscoll recently presented a new five-year development plan that includes several new projects, one of which is a much-needed update to Hendricken Field.

"We're planning on having a soccer and lacrosse artificial surface intramural field on Hendricken Field with an eight-lane track around the perimeter," Driscoll said.

In addition to that, plans are underway to fix up Maullaney Gymnasium in Alumni Hall. Once home to the men's basketball team and now housing the Lady Friars, the gym in not air conditioned and in need of new seats, all of which it should get, pending approval of the trustees.

"We're looking at new bleachers and lights," Driscoll said. "And we're be making some lesser changes at [Schneider], where we're rehabbing the lounge area."

The atmosphere in Schneider once finished should be similar to that in the restaurant in the Dunk, with TVs on sight where donors can watch the game in progress.

Funding

It would be impossible to write about the state of PC Sports without mentioning finances. Like it or not, money is a crucial aspect of college athletics. While many colleges are finding it necessary to cut sports, Providence is fortunately not in a position where it needs to consider making this difficult choice. According to Driscoll, PC took its hit 10 years ago when it was forced to cut its baseball program, a decision still controversial today. The reality is, though, that baseball requires a lot of resources that frankly the school does not have right now.

"The scholarships would cost well over one million dollars for 15 or 16 players each year," Driscoll said. "We could not fully fund that. We would need either a new field or to play somewhere else, both of which would cost more money. Then there's the coaching staff that we would have to pay too."

So instead of reviving old programs, Driscoll and the college are focusing on building the success of the men's basketball team, the school's highest-grossing program.

"Everything spins off of that team," he said. "It helps to raise money by selling tickets. We just got a high profile coach in Keno Davis and we need to make the program high profile through the new Dunk and having all of the games televised. We have the building blocks in place."

In order to concentrate on basketball, the school has constructed a tier system in regard to the athletics department, where only some sports, like men's hoops, are fully funded. The others range from partial scholarships to none at all.

Friars on the Field

This tiered approach makes it harder to judge the school's success based solely on championships. The average PC fan may be very surprised to learn that the men's lacrosse team-which recently qualified for its eighth straight MAAC tourney-has no scholarships. The same can be said for swimming and softball.

"Despite this, they still compete against other scholarship programs," Driscoll said. "They play against teams with the ability to recruit more athletes."

While the swim team may never take home the Big East Championship, it is important to realize the program's gains regardless.

"I think you have to look at teams like men's soccer, which went from 0-16 three or four years ago to making its third consecutive NCAA Tournament," Driscoll said. "One of the programs I'm most impressed with is Ray Treacey's Men's and Women's Cross Country Teams and all they do without an outdoor track here."