Friar Basketball Newsletter: Which Big East teams are carrying their weight in March (and which aren't), Mike Anderson proving doubters wrong in Queens, what could have been for Rick Barnes, and more.
It’s hard to believe we are a little over a month away from seeing the Friars take to the Dunkin Donuts Center for the first time since March 2020. And yes, I’m knocking on wood as I type.
Providence is set to host Stonehill in an exhibition game on Thursday, Oct. 21 at the Dunk, then the regular season kicks off Nov. 9 against Fairfield.
Over the next eight weeks we will write player previews for the core of the 2021-22 Friars, while also continuing to dig into other Big East rosters.
This week we take a look at the rapid rebuilding job of Mike Anderson at St. John’s. Anderson’s hiring was panned by seemingly everyone two years ago, but he won Big East Coach of the Year last season, and he returns two of the best players in the league in Julian Champagnie and Posh Alexander. Somewhat quietly, Anderson added five potentially critical transfers (including some familiar names) for this season. The Johnnies should be dangerous in 2021-22.
The Big East needs members of the “Catholic 7” like St. John’s to start doing damage in March. Outside of Villanova, the other six schools that made up the “Catholic 7” are a combined 3-15 in the NCAA Tournament since the realignment of 2013-14. Nova’s March success, and some solid runs from Xavier, Creighton, and Butler have helped mask the postseason shortcomings of programs thought to be linchpins when the league reformed. Subscribers can read this in-depth piece about how every Big East school has fared in March since 2014.
How much different would the history of Providence basketball look with Tim Duncan and Jason Williams? Who remembers Arizona transfer Orlando Vega? Craig Leighton looks back on some of the truly interesting what-if scenarios during Rick Barnes’ run at Providence.
As a junior, Justin Minaya had perhaps the best statistical game of his career against Texas A&M: 18 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists. He teamed with another player who is now playing in the Big East to lead South Carolina to victory on that afternoon. Subscribers can see video and reaction from that game here.
Subscribers can also see highlights of Al Durham’s perfect 7-7 shooting night to kick off his junior season.
Craig shares news, notes, and opinions in his latest “Here and There in Friartown” article.
From the Archive:
For those of you who signed up more recently to our newsletter, you may want to check out these articles as well:
How Noah Horchler emerged late in the season after adjusting from being a heavily used post player at North Florida to more of an outside threat at Providence.
Can Justin Minaya help Providence rediscover its defensive identity?
Thank you as always for reading!