by Greg Lahr ’26 on March 19, 2026
Sports - Men's Basketball
The English era at Providence College has mercifully come to an end after the Friars were toppled by St. John’s University in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals—a game in which the Friars were down 21 by halftime. After a fluctuating, and often grueling, three-year English experiment, the head coach of the Friars and the athletic department have decided to part ways. English had a promising first year at the helm, even earning a contract extension, but the last two years have been nothing short of disastrous. In English’s three seasons, Providence has gone 48–52 overall, 31–51 in non-bye games, and 13–34 in road/neutral site games. Over the last two years, the Friars have gone a horrific 13–27 in Big East play. English, a coach who showed promise to revitalize a proud program that had been stabbed in the back by its former coach, unfortunately, fell short. Way short.
English failed to make the NCAA tournament in his three seasons, and the last two years have been the worst-performing seasons for the Friars in over 40 years. By no means is this meant to bash English as a person, but nobody has done less with more than him. He is a great person, but not a great coach. Last year, the men’s basketball team experienced its first-ever 20-loss season in the past 36 years. The Providence College Friars have state-of-the-art facilities, an extremely passionate fanbase, and millions in NIL, yet they were an afterthought and a laughingstock of the Big East for two straight seasons. A change was more than necessary.
So what went wrong? While English had an incredible reputation for recruiting high school talent, he lacked an important part of a coaching resume: head-coaching experience. The talent was there, but figuring out what to do with that talent was absent. In two of English’s three years, he had the Big East scoring champion on his roster (Devin Carter and Jaylin Sellers ’26G). Under English, the Friars never had a true identity. This year, defense was a real struggle, as the team allowed 84 points per game. That will not lead to sustained success for a team, especially in the Big East. Injuries played a big role (especially when Bryce Hopkins ’25 tore his ACL in English’s first year), but English still used 25 different starting lineups over the last two seasons alone. Also, English had a handful of portal misses. When you look at Christ Essandoko, Wesley Cardet Jr ’25., or even Duncan Powell ’26G this year, they did not perform as one would think. English’s only two real portal gems were Bensley Joseph ’25 and Sellers.
What these last two years have shown is that Carter, in year one, was nothing short of superhuman, carrying the Friars to the Big East Tournament semifinals and what should have been an NCAA tournament appearance. Sellers played a similar role this year, carrying the Friars on his back with 18.3 points per game. Still, the Friars have been one of college basketball’s most unlucky teams this year, ranking 350 out of 365 teams. After blowing multiple leads and making in-game decisions that had fans scratching their heads (why not foul when you’re up three?), the English era is over at Providence College. Now, it is up to athletic director Steve Napolillo to make the correct hire as the Friars will enter search season for the second time in three years.