by Izzy Mignardi ‘27 on October 30, 2025
Sports
The buzz was palpable around the Providence College men’s basketball team as they attended the Big East Media Day at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, Oct. 21. It was an opportunity for coaches and players to discuss last year’s season, offseason moves, strategies for the team this year, and their hopes about what this season holds.
Among the attendees from Providence were head coach Kim English, returnees Corey Floyd Jr. ’26 and Oswin Eurhunmwunse ’28, and newcomers Jaylin Sellers ’G26 and Jason Edwards ’G26. When asked why these players specifically were selected to represent the Friars, Edwards responded that this combination is a display of the current team and their plans. In the offseason, the returnees set a standard of “what winning is and what Providence is” for the recruits.Edwards, a guard from Vanderbilt University, immediately shared his appreciation for the Big East, where “basketball rules” and there’s not a lot of competition with other sports, like in the SEC. The Big East also provides the opportunity to play in world-famous arenas like Madison Square Garden. Edwards continued, explaining his goals for himself this year. He says it’s important to become more than just a scorer and to focus on his teammates, too. “When I get the ball, I make myself better, but I want to make those around me better.”
Sellers, a guard from the University of Central Florida who only played three games last year because of injury, said he’s the kind of player who brings passion to every play, someone “that’s ready to run through a brick wall.” These two new players weren’t shy about expressing their passion for Friars Basketball. Right away, they felt a connection to their teammates and with the community in Providence, where “everyone shows love,” as Sellers said. But they both emphasized that the relationship they had with coach English was the selling point for coming to Providence, especially in the age of NIL. Edwards shared how coach English and the other coaches see the players more as people rather than athletes. “A lot of times in the portal era and NIL era, a lot of relationships with players and coaches seem business and transactional… Coach made it seem really personable. He cared more about me as a person than a player.”
Now that the roster is “reloaded,” what does the upcoming season hold? Last season, the Friars went 12–20 overall, lost in the first round of the Big East Tournament, and did not qualify for the NCAA tournament. But a recent pre-season coaches’ poll placed Providence No. 4 among the 11 teams in the Big East, following Creighton University in third, the University of Connecticut second, and St. John’s University first.
With that in mind, Corey Floyd Jr. explained that even though last season may have been disappointing, they’ll use that as motivation going forward. Despite losing their first exhibition game to the University of Pittsburgh, Floyd explained that it was a lot of the players’ first time being on a college court. He sees this game as a valuable lesson that they can bring to Saturday’s exhibition game against Harvard. As for coach English, his outlook seems to be one of quiet conviction. He said that “It’s going to be 11 teams at 0–0 when the season starts, and we’ll see who’s holding the trophy at the end.” The PC community and fans will most certainly be watching and with them every step of the way.