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.