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Big East News, Schedule

Big East/Big Ten Challenge: What This Means for the Big East

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With Kevin McNamara’s announcement on Twitter that the Big East and Big Ten conferences have agreed to begin a challenge series in the 2015-16 season, it’s fantastic news for this new version of the Big East. Scheduling strong opponents outside the conference has become critically important for all member schools because of the defections of perennially highly ranked programs like Syracuse and Louisville among others from the in conference schedule. The Big Ten is arguably the 2nd best basketball conference in the country behind only the ACC.

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Providence has been working on scheduling a Big Ten opponent for this upcoming season with Michigan being the one where negotiations seem closest to completion. Marquette plays in-state rival Wisconsin every season. Creighton and Nebraska do that same. Seton Hall and new Big Ten member, Rutgers, will be in year 2 of an 8 year series they agreed to in March 2013. Now all 10 members of the Big East will get to play a Big Ten opponent to start their season. It has been reported that each Big Ten team will play in the Dave Gavitt Tip Off at least 4 times with each Big East member playing in it at least 6 times over the course of the 8 year deal. The fact that this series will be named after the Hall of Famer, Dave Gavitt adds some special connection for Friar fans. It’s great to see that his greatness and legacy continue to carry further than just Friartown.

The games will be played in a 4 day period from Tuesday-Friday during the first week of each season in November. The Big Ten/ACC Challenge, an ESPN creation, will continue. In terms of television for these games, the coverage will be split among ESPN, Fox Sports 1 and the Big Ten Network with the home team determining which network the game will be aired on.

That takes care of the housekeeping. Now you know the details. But what does this new series mean for the Big East?

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

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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

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Recruiting News

#pcbb Weekly Recruiting Update 4/11/14

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  • PC received some good recruiting news minutes after the final buzzer sounded in Dallas on the 2013-2014 season Monday night – Kyron Cartwright announced he was going to be a Friar next season. His commitment adds more depth to the point guard position for PC next season. Kris Dunn was the only point guard on the roster and coming off a second shoulder surgery it was crucial for Ed Cooley to have some insurance. To read more about Cartwright’s commitment and some quotes from him, click the links below.

2014 PG Kyron Cartwright Commits to Providence

Quotes from New 2014 PC Commit Kyron Cartwright

  • More interesting recruiting news came about on Tuesday this week when coveted 2014 point guard Devonte’ Graham announced on Twitter that he got a release from his National Letter of Intent to App State by new coach, Jim Fox. Graham is now officially one of the best available players left on the board in 2014 after having a break out year under Jason Smith at Brewster Academy. A number of high majors are involved and have already spoken to Graham since his release. Thursday night had Cooley joined by Nebraska’s Tim Miles and Virginia’s Tony Bennett at Brewster for a workout. Friday it will be Kansas’ Bill Self along with coaches from Cincinnati, Florida and Virginia Tech. Graham would be a great fit at PC because of his shooting and playmaking abilities but the competition is obviously stiff. Ed Cooley and Providence has a legit chance with Graham and will likely be one of the teams on his final list before deciding.

https://twitter.com/im_dat_kid_dtae/status/453971383832559616

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Recruiting News

#pcbb Weekly Recruiting Update 4/4/14

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  • 2014 PG Kyron Cartwright was on campus over the weekend for an official visit. From reports, he liked the campus and the visit went well but it seems that he left Rhode Island without an official offer. My guess is the staff is being more picky with 2014 HS players at this point and focusing their efforts more strongly on 5th year transfers and JUCO player that will be eligible immediately. Reasons for that would be a) balancing classes b) a bad call will only affect the roster for a year or two vs. four c) need quality contributors right away for 2014-2015.
  • 2015 SG Donovan Mitchell spoke with Rob Howe of HawkeyeInsider.com, an Iowa Scout.com site. He has offers from Boston College, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Creighton, Florida, Fordham, Iowa, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall and St. John’s. He also said that Kansas and Xavier have been showing a lot of interest. On what he needs to work on: “I have to improve my jump shot.” On what he is looking for in a school: “I am looking for a school where not only can I have a great basketball career but a great academic career.” Kevin San (aka Undercover Friar) posted an article on Mitchell on the ScoutFriars.com site last night. Mitchell talks about how Cooley being front and center at Brewster games and practices “sends a message.” He also mentions that he believes his game fits how they play at PC and that he and his family have a good relationship with the coaching staff in Friartown.

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Recruiting News

#pcbb Weekly Recruiting Update 3/28/14

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  • I’ve added a Recruiting Updates (see below for the permanent location on the home page) page which will be dedicated to recruiting info and recruiting targets. For the offseason, I’ll be keeping a list of all PC targets for 2014 that either get a release because of a coach firing or if a player wants to play his 5th year somewhere else and PC is recruiting that player. Make sure to check it out.

recruiting updates page pcbb

  • 2014 PG Kyron Cartwright recently got his release from Loyola Marymount after their coach, Max Good was let go. The left handed lead guard is currently visiting Providence. Craig Belhumeur of FriarBasketball.com spoke with Cartwright and his HS coach, Anthony Thomas. Thomas has a relationship with PC Associate Head Coach, Andre LaFleur from their days playing AAU together for Slam n Jam out on the West coast in the early 1980’s. Make sure to check out Craig’s article for quotes from both Thomas and Cartwright. Cartwright talks about what he likes about PC so far and what he would do if Cooley extended an offer. Great stuff from Craig B!
  • Another name for 2014 point guards is Malik Pugh. He committed to UNC Wilmington in February but a coaching change has caused him to open up his recruitment. PC is checking up on him and he is a potential candidate to fill out one of PC’s remaining scholarships for 2014. Pugh is a scoring guard who put up 20 ppg this season for Dyer HS in Tennessee including going for 37 in his final HS game. The knock on him is his size but he seems to like playing with that chip on his shoulder.

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Game Previews & Recaps

Game Notes & Preview: PC vs Creighton 3/15/14 Big East Championship #pcbb

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Where: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY

When: 8:30PM

How: Fox Sports 1 (Gus Johnson, Bill Raftery and Erin Andrews) /WEEI 103.7 FM (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)

Game Notes

  • The Friars and the Blue Jays have obviously never met in the Big East Tournament since this is Creighton’s first year of Big East membership.
  • LaDontae Henton picked a great time for a season high of 26 points yesterday in the semifinal win over Seton Hall. In 4 career Big East Tournament games, Henton has averaged 16 ppg and 10 rpg.
  • Bryce Cotton’s 10 assists last night came up just 1 short of the PC record for assists in a Big East Tournament game.
  • The Friars are 1-3 all time in the Big East Tournament against 2 seeds.
  • Bryce Cotton joins Friar great Ryan Gomes as the only two Friars to ever be named to the First Team All-Big East more than once.
  • Providence will be looking for win number 23 tonight. They haven’t won 23 games since they went 24-12 in 1997.
  • Line opened at PC +7

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Game Previews & Recaps

Game Notes & Preview: PC vs Seton Hall 3/14/14 #pcbb

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Where: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY

When: 7:00PM

How: Fox Sports 1 (Gus Johnson, Bill Raftery and Erin Andrews) /WEEI 103.7 FM (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)

Game Notes

  • The Friars and the Pirates have met 7 times all time in the Big East Tournament. Seton Hall has the 5-2 edge in the series and have won the last 4 times with the last Friar victory coming March 6, 1985. The only other time they met in Big East Semifinals, SHU was the 1 seed and beat 5 seed PC 69-60 and then went on to blow Syracuse out of the gym to win the 1993 Big East Tournament Championship.
  • Bryce Cotton only played 34 minutes in the Big East Tournament Quarterfinal game against St. John’s which was the fewest minutes he has played since a 70-49 victory over Vermont on November 18, 2013.
  • Providence’s 49 total rebounds in yesterday’s game against St. John’s is the most rebounds they’ve ever had in a Big East Tournament game.
  • The Friars are 0-2 all time in the Big East Tournament against 8 seeds but both times they were playing the 8 seed as a 9 seed in the first round of the tournament (1992 vs. BC and 2005 vs. West Virginia).
  • Bryce Cotton joins Friar great Ryan Gomes as the only two Friars to ever be named to the First Team All-Big East more than once.
  • Providence will be looking for win number 22 tonight. They haven’t won 22 games since they went 24-12 in 1997.
  • Josh Fortune’s 24 points in yesterday’s game marked a new career high for points scored in a game. In his last 7 games, Fortune is averaging 16.5 ppg, which is double his season average.
  • Seton Hall’s 2 wins in the Big East Tournament have made them eligible for the NIT should they not go on to win the Big East Tournament and get the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
  • Line opened at PC -1.5

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