Here and There in Friartown

Craig Leighton returns to Friar Basketball with his latest "Here and There" article.

Devin Carter is rapidly becoming my favorite Friar from the past few years. He is an incredible athlete whose tenacious defense leaves opponents cringing when they realize who is guarding them. By the time his Friar career is finished I expect he will be right up there with Eric Murdock and John Linehan among Providence’s best defensive guards of the Big East era. 

Carter is currently one of eight Big East players with 20+ steals this season. Unlike almost all of those players, Carter also has nine blocks this year. 

The National Prep School Invitational returns to Rhode Island College Feb. 2nd through Feb. 5th at the Murray Gymnasium on the RIC campus. This year’s tournament will have an international flair to it as teams from Africa, Sweden, Italy, Canada, Czech Republic, and Latin America are scheduled to participate. Most of the traditional New England Prep School powers will be there including Putnam Science Academy, St. Thomas More, Worcester Academy, and St. Andrew’s.

Friar fans should pay special attention to Bradford Christian Academy and Brimmer and May during the NPSI as PC recruits Kur Teng and George Turkson from Bradford Christian will be playing, as will the Brimmer and May’s talented duo of Bryce Dortch and Andre Mills.

Friday night will bring a terrific contest between Bradford Christian and Worcester Academy. Worcester features Duke commit TJ Power, Marquette pledge Tre Norman, and a promising young guard in Kayvaun Mulready (who PC is tracking). Worcester and Bradford Christian played down to the wire in the NEPSAC AA title game last year. 

This year’s Friar team is going to be fun to watch, as Ed Cooley is going to have them run the court at every opportunity. The three point shooting will be frustrating at times, but hopefully transition baskets will make up for down outside shooting nights. PC is scoring almost ten transition points per game. 

Hopefully Jared Bynum has started to come out of his funk. In order for the Friars to reach their potential they will need some version of last year’s Bynum – a 2nd Team All Big East performer and the league’s Sixth Man of the Year. 

Bryce Hopkins. A man among boys in every way against Marquette — and now the Big East Player of the Week. He is becoming a real beast in college basketball. Hopkins reminds me of a combination of Ryan Gomes and Marvin Barnes. The best thing about him is that in most games Providence will have the best player on the court.