Brendan Maguire ’25

by Brendan Maguire ’25 on November 18, 2024

Providence College men’s basketball has returned to the AMP, formerly known as “The Dunk,” giving its undyingly loyal fan base much to consider regarding the success of the Friars this season. Kim English is entering his second year as head coach and has strung together a pretty good resume—21–14 in the 2023–24 season as part of a competitive Big East conference. The Friars had a successful yet tumultuous time last season. Although a star was born in Devin Carter, formerly a class of 2025 student, drafted 13th overall by the Sacramento Kings, Bryce Hopkins ’25 suffered a season-ending injury and was the team’s centerpiece on and off the floor. Through two games, with virtually a new roster, English has much work to do gluing the team together and getting the players to understand their roles on the offensive and defensive of the ball. 

The Friars were victorious against the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils on Nov. 4, scoring 59–55. Bensley Joseph ’25 led the team in scoring with 21 points, and earned most of them off his impressive three-point shooting down the stretch, going 5–10 from behind the arc. Besides the success of Joseph’s shot-making abilities in the clutch, the game was a frustrating, confusing lapse of schematic basketball by the Friars. The team seemed out of touch with one another on the offensive side and struggled to contain the Blue Devils defensively. The Friars entered the second half down 26–24 and outscored CCSU 35–29 in the following half,  propelling them to a mere four-point win. The outstanding issue throughout the game was the sloppy play on offense, as unnecessary turnovers crumbled the team. The Friars left the game with 16 turnovers, nine more than their opponent, and the Blue Devils capitalized, scratching 14 points on the board from those mistakes. Christ Essandoko ’26 assisted the team with seven points and seven rebounds but was inefficient in handling the ball, finishing with five turnovers. The center position for Providence has been an ever-changing role of the team, from Nate Watson ’21 GS in the 2021–22 season, Ed Croswell ’23 the following year, and Josh Oduro ’23 GS this past season. English acquired Essandoko in the transfer portal this offseason, Anton Bonke ’27 last season, and landed five-star recruit Oswin Erhunmwunse ’28. The center helps alleviate a lot of pressure off the guards in the offense English runs, which has plays that consist of constant pick and rolls affording Jayden Pierre ’26 or Joseph an open look at the rim or kick-out to an open man. This has been the bread and butter of Friars basketball for the last couple of seasons, and the centers stepping up and understanding their role of posting up their man, setting picks, and feverishly crashing the glass would enormously impact the number of victories this season. However, the Friars’ lackluster performance is not all the No. 5 position on the court, as the backcourt offense was not the best from behind the arc—8–32, 25 percent, from three. The three-ball not falling and the shots attempted had a tremendous effect on the tightness of this game. The offense was earning open looks, from clean off-ball movement and second-chance opportunities, but could not see the ball through the netting. English’s quote summed up the general emotions, and hopefulness of the Friar Faithful: “Happy we got the victory but we have a lot of work to do.” Providence hosted another game on Nov. 9 and easily triumphed over the Stonehill Skyhawks—the final score was 76–49. The Friars had a far better showing and improved in every major statistical category—better field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and rebounding. Jabri Abdur-Rahim ’24 GS led the team with 16 points, six rebounds, and shot 3–5 from three. The scoring was evenly dispersed throughout the team and was a great bounceback game from the narrow-margin win over CCSU. Providence shot 50 percent from the field as a team, a great improvement from 37.7 percent in the previous game, and overall played as a better, more cohesive unit. Coach English went into the games with an agro-coaching style with rapid rotations and trying different lineups—11 players were in the game for 10+ minutes. The matchup versus the Skyhawks was a lopsided one.This could be attributed to the rapid substitutions, but English was also making accelerated changes on the floor early. At one point in the first half after a turnover by Essandoko, English immediately looked to the bench and checked in Bonke. Although the coaching style is aggressive at points, it sets a precedent for English’s steep aspirations and dynamic approach for this team. The fast-paced subbing could hold a “pressure makes diamonds” effect on the players as the season progresses because of the high standard expected of them in such a competitive conference—there is not much room for error. The progression on and off the court matters most for English and this program: “We showed improvement tonight…I’m glad we got the victory. We’ll get back to work tomorrow to prepare for Tuesday,” English stated after the win. The culture of soaring above all expectations and becoming a better team played an enormous role in last year’s success through uncertainty, after Hopkins’ injury, and hopefully will remain prominent this season. The Friars were able to escape another non conference scare Tuesday, Nov. 12, with a nine point victory (60–51) over the Hampton Pirates.