Tag Archives: Michigan

ESPN’s Jeff Goodman: The Fab 50 for 2014-15

ESPN’s Jeff Goodman came out with “a detailed look ahead at the nation’s top programs and how they’re positioning themselves for the 2014-15 campaign … and beyond.” Providence didn’t make Goodman’s cut of top 50 teams (cue the conspiracy theorists) while teams like UTEP, Stephen F. Austin, Toledo and Louisiana Tech do make the cut ahead of the Friars. There are 3 Big East teams mentioned and it could be argued that PC will be better than #40 Xavier next season. Click here to see the full top 50 (ESPN Insider). Below are the 3 Big East teams:

Continue reading ESPN’s Jeff Goodman: The Fab 50 for 2014-15

Ed Cooley Radio Show 4/26/14 Recap

I tried and tried to find the audio of this show online somewhere to listen as it was happening but had no luck. Luckily our friend FriarTV was able to capture audio from most of the Ed Cooley Radio Show that aired at 6pm on Saturday before the basketball banquet. Here are some of the highlights:

Henton on next year: “I just want to feed off what we did this year. I learned a lot about leadership and knowing what it takes to win…I want to be in the best shape possible so I can help my team get more victories.”

Henton on why he chose PC: “Honestly it was the coaching staff. I came in and they convinced me to believe and to buy in. That’s why I wanted to come here to play for someone that believes in you just as much as you believe in them.”

Cooley on Henton: “When you look to recruit young men and you talk about chemistry and you talk about personality, this kid has it all. He doesn’t need basketball to be successful. I know that’s his dream and I want him to have that dream but this young man has grown so much. I can’t brag enough about him. From how LaDontae walked in and when he was about 25 pounds overweight, he hadn’t had a haircut in 8 years…to see how this young man has changed, how his focus is unbelievable, how his dedication to Providence College, because let’s face it, when went through all that negativity, everybody could’ve bailed on us. I love that young man and there’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t do for him.”

Cooley on growing players as men: “My job in the public eye is to win games. In the public eye. Who I am as a man, I want to see these kids have life success. Whether or not we win games or lose games, if I see our young men grow as people then we’ve achieved success. They can fire us for not winning games but they’ll never fire us for not developing these young men as great people.”

Cooley on scheduling: “You want to play competitive basketball on the road. I think you need resume builders when you playing non conference games. What a tradition to go into Rupp Arena and play [there]…I’m glad the Harrison twins stayed. They’ll be one of the top one, two, three, four teams in the country and it gives Providence an opportunity to go in there and shock the world…We play URI, we play Boston College, we play UMass. We play Brown this year again.. I think this will be one of the toughest non conference schedules we’ve ever played here at Providence College.”

Cooley on importance of scheduling tough opponents for OOC: “We’re looking for another high profile game. Michigan is on the dock. Kansas is on the dock. Gonzaga is on the dock. Possibly another Big Ten team. I just think it’s really important to sell Providence College on a national scale and I think scheduling helps that to get into territories, especially areas that we recruit in…We were able to play Kentucky but we had to play them at a neutral setting and now we gotta go back to their place. We do that for our program but that’s hard to continue to do…[the Dunk] is a great place to play. I can’t thank our fans and the people that come to the Dunk making it an incredible, incredible environment. You gotta admit, the Dunk this was unbelievable. Unbelievable activity in there all year so God bless our fans. They’re great. I love playing at the Dunk…The problem is not many coaches want to schedule a tough, tough, tough road game like [against PC]…I personally like going into tough environments and play because it builds you toward February. Everything we do in the non conference is all about what we’re trying to do in conference.”

Continue reading Ed Cooley Radio Show 4/26/14 Recap

#pcbb On: Providence’s Out of Conference Schedule for 2014-2015

It’s officially the offseason now. March Madness has come and gone. Connecticut is the national champion.

The focus for fans now turns heavily to recruiting, discussing potential starters/lineups for their team next season, how many minutes and points per game and rebounds per game, etc. a kid they have never seen play before will have and, finally, who they will be playing out of conference (OOC). For Providence, recruiting means filling out their remaining 2 spots for the 2014 class with a focus on 5th year transfers and junior college players who can contribute immediately next season. Potential starters/lineups likely can’t be determined for the Friars until they have another guard in hand for 2014 and at some point in the coming weeks, I’ll enter the fray on that discussion with my own thoughts on that topic. For now though, my focus is on the OOC schedule that PC has lined up for next season.

As I mentioned in my piece reviewing the Big East’s first season with the current configuration, one of the big keys for maintaining the strength of this updated version of the Big East is for teams to play a strong OOC schedule. The reality is that most years won’t provide the opportunity to play a top 25 ranked opponent every week like the prior version of this conference did many years. My guess is that most years there will be about 2-3 teams in the top 25 with the potential for a great year having 50% of the league ranked. The 2013-2014 season saw the Big East have an OOC strength of schedule ranked 7th in the country. They likely need to be top 5 every year in that category. Things are off to a solid start with Creighton reportedly having agreed to a home and home series with Oklahoma beginning in Omaha next season. Also, it was reported over the weekend that St. John’s and Duke will restart their series on January 31, 2015 at Madison Square Garden after a two year hiatus. The Johnnies also will head to the Carrier Dome this season to take on former conference rival Syracuse in December 2014.

providence live rpi stats after 2014
RPI Forecast

Continue reading #pcbb On: Providence’s Out of Conference Schedule for 2014-2015