Recruiting News

#pcbb Weekly Recruiting Update 9/19/14

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After the last couple of weeks being pretty quiet after the commitment of 2015 guard Drew Edwards this upcoming weekend is a big one in Friartown. Not only will Edwards be taking his official visit to Providence this weekend but he will be joined by the first player to commit to Ed Cooley in the class of 2015, Ryan Fazekas. But the most important visitor this weekend and a player that Edwards and Fazekas will try to help recruit is 2015 point guard recruit Justin Robinson. This will be Robinson’s 3rd official visit with the first two being at local schools Virginia Tech and Maryland. Robinson plans to take his other two visits after this weekend in Providence but Ed Cooley and the Friar Faithful are hoping that Robinson will give Cooley a commitment before returning home on Sunday.

Continue reading #pcbb Weekly Recruiting Update 9/19/14 →

Links of the Day

#pcbb Links of the Day 9/19/14

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Game Previews & Recaps

Providence Big East Schedule Review: Part II

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This is Part 2 of a 3 part series giving my impressions of Providence’s Big East schedule in 6 game blocks. This second block looks at games 7-12 from 1/22/15 through 2/11/15. My evaluation of each 6 game block will take into account a few factors: road trips/travel, potential fan attendance/games over school breaks, opponent’s schedule around time of PC game and other factors.

Game 7: vs. Xavier

  • Where: Dunkin’ Donuts Center – Providence, RI
  • When: 1/22/15 7:00pm
  • How: Fox Sports 1/WEEI 103.7 FM
  • Last season’s final RPI: 47
  • Last season’s final Kenpom rating: 59

This will be the first home game for the Friars where the students are back from break. Hopefully that means the student section will be full and rocking. What else is there to do on a Thursday night in January? Xavier loses Semaj Christon to the NBA and Justin Martin to transfer but they have an impressive recruiting class coming in including incoming freshman Larry Austin who had Providence as one of his final schools before selecting the Musketeers the weekend he was scheduled to visit Friartown. For Xavier, this game comes in the middle of arguably the toughest stretch of their conference schedule as they will be coming off games at Butler and Villanova with Marquette at home between this game in Providence and that game in Philadelphia. Xavier struggled on the road in the inaugural season in the Big East with a 2-6 record. The Musketeers play on the road in 3 of the 6 games leading to their trip to Providence.

Xavier will likely be somewhere in the 3rd-6th range along with Providence in terms of conference standings by the time March 8th rolls around so this game could make a big difference to both teams in the final league standings. Providence is coming off a trip to Omaha and should be at least 4-2 in league play entering this matchup. Xavier may end up being 4-2 as well based on how their first 6 games look right now.  This game is the beginning of a pretty tough 6 game block which will include a trip to Cincinnati for the rematch on February 7th.

Continue reading Providence Big East Schedule Review: Part II →

Kris Dunn

Kris Dunn Cleared for Full Contact, Takes Part in Team Workout

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Friar fans can stop holding their breath. Kris Dunn has been cleared for full contact and went through a full team workout on Wednesday without any issues. The news was reported by ESPN’s Jeff Goodman who also spoke with Dunn and Ed Cooley after Wednesday’s workout. “Physically, it felt great. I’m just glad to be back on the court,” Dunn said. Dunn also mentioned he is 80 percent back. Cooley told Goodman that he expects Dunn to be ready and playing for Providence’s season opener against Albany on November 15th. This will also be the night the Big East Tournament Championship banner will be raised to the rafters of the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

Replacing Bryce Cotton’s scoring and leadership is one of the keys for Providence being able to make a return trip to the NCAA Tournament but arguably even bigger than that is Kris Dunn’s health. Friar fans saw that even a less than 100% healthy Kris Dunn can make a difference in a game. The one game that sticks out in my mind from last season is the Vanderbilt game in the Virgin Islands where Dunn played 31 minutes and did a little bit of a everything to help the Friars defeat the Commodores, 67-60. That Vanderbilt game would be Dunn’s 2nd of 4 games played last season before having to shut it down and have surgery. The positive of this shoulder injury is that it was a totally different injury in the same shoulder and he didn’t simply reinjure the surgically repaired area. Cooley has dubbed it a “freak injury.”

Dunn will be the key to Providence’s season. If he can stay healthy and knock of the rust in the early non-conference schedule I like the possibilities for the 2014-15 Friars. Adding Kyron Cartwright and Tyree Chambers to the 2014 recruiting class gives Providence some backup and insurance behind Dunn in case something happens but Dunn’s dynamic playmaking ability on both offense and defense is something that can’t be replaced by players on the current roster.

Links of the Day

#pcbb Links of the Day 9/18/14

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Player News

Tyree Chambers Officially Added to the Providence Roster

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There still hasn’t been an official release from Providence about adding German guard Tyree Chambers for the 2014-15 season. However, the new development today is that Chambers has been added to the official roster on Friars.com.

2014-15 Providence basketball roster

Chambers is enrolled in classes and has been on campus since late August. He will wear #14 for the Friars.

Links of the Day

#pcbb Links of the Day 9/17/14

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