Mailbag Part 1: Touching on the many questions facing Providence this offseason

Happy Selection Sunday! With the NCAA Tournament set to begin this week and the transfer portal opening in eight days, it’s a perfect time to bring back our mailbag. The portal window is open for 30 days this year (versus 45 last), with exceptions being made for graduate transfers and players whose coaches have left a program.

I fully expect this spring to be a wild ride in Providence. With that, let’s dig into the mailbag.

Hey Kevin - My wife and I are proud PC alum from 2013 and both love Friar B-ball. You and Billy did your best to keep us informed and sane throughout the year.

My question is around the perception of Bryce nationally when it comes to the portal. Bryce will be a 1 year player, coming off of 2 injured seasons, will demand a lionshare of a team's NIL, and he'll be an unproven player in the school, system and potential league he goes to. Am I naive to think that he is significantly more valuable for the Friars and might not have that many suitors nationally?

Looking forward to the off-season content.

Ryan

Hopkins – Will he be staying?

Joe

Let’s start with the biggest storyline of the spring. Bryce Hopkins’ upcoming decision could set the tone for the offseason — much like Nate Watson’s did in the spring of 2021. So much has transpired that it’s easy to forget, but things felt very down in Providence at the time. This was fresh off the first round Big East Tournament loss to DePaul that ended with Ed Cooley leaving the court without his team, leading to an awkward Brando/Raff interaction.

It felt like PC was headed in the wrong direction, but Watson’s announcement that he was returning for a fifth year stemmed the tide and changed the tenor for that offseason. The Friars then went on the best two-year stretch of Cooley’s tenure.

I’m not sure if Hopkins will return next year. I was told he was an outstanding leader throughout the year, even after his season ended. As for his value, despite the injuries and time away, I expect him to be one of the hottest targets in the portal, assuming he goes that route. And even if there are concerns among some programs, all it takes is one.

There’s so much money being thrown around, and the landscape is so wild, that I wouldn’t put it past a rival to make a huge offer for the dual benefit of helping themselves and hurting a competitor.

To what do you attribute the rising stock of Mela and Oswin? Did the program serve their development well? And if so, does that translate into recruits looking to be part of Kim English's approach to the game?

Mark

A combination of factors at play here — recruiting hits, development, and available playing time. The staff nailed it with both Oswin Erhunmwunse and Ryan Mela on the recruiting trail. Oswin was an elite recruit they won a tough battle for, while Mela was a matter of identifying someone who was being overlooked, despite great production. There are some inherent biases and groupthink when it comes to recruiting, and most probably looked at Mela and wondered if he’d be athletic enough to overcome not being a knockdown shooter.

From a development perspective, Oswin made some of the biggest in-season strides of a Friar in recent years. We appreciated how much better he’d gotten, but probably not the full extent of which he improved due to the frustration of the season.

Mela just took advantage of his opportunities. He went from out of the rotation early in the year to one of the most reliable players after being given an opportunity. His development at the free throw line and beyond the arc will set his ceiling. He has a scorer’s mentality, can rebound, and create.

At what point do we question if Kim was the right hire? He took a Sweet 16 team with a bunch of talent and missed the tournament, then brought in a bunch of guys who seemed like good fits on paper but they were an embarrassment.

Pat

There’s certainly no shortage of questioning Kim English after a 12-20 season — and rightfully so. This year wasn’t close to acceptable. I’d push back on him taking over a Sweet 16 team and missing the tournament. The core of the 2022 Sweet 16 team was gone by the time English got here, and when Bryce Hopkins went down, they went from being 11-2 on the season and #23 in the country to a team that just didn’t have enough on the interior outside of Josh Oduro.

The portal misses are a concern, but the biggest question for me is the slippage on the defensive end. I thought defense was going to be a staple under English, but after this past season it gets added to a list of questions about the program.

As for the portal, my concern was that last year’s misses were due, in part, to coaching inexperience. The year prior, the staff’s search for a backup center dragged into the late spring and resulted in Will McNair — who flaked on them in September. Even without Hopkins, they probably make the tournament in 2024 if McNair stayed. I wonder if they moved so quickly last spring in an effort to avoid a similar situation.

What is the most important position we need to fill this year and what portal player are you most excited about that has a chance to fill it?

John

I think we’ll have a better sense after we see where the portal chips fall, but I’d like to see this team add an alpha to the backcourt. This can come in different forms, from a Kyron Cartwright who elevated his game at the Big East Tournament to an Al Durham who continually met the moment, but sign me up for a guard who raises the confidence level of his teammates just by his presence.

Ideally, this would be someone with more than one year of eligibility remaining. As great as Devin Carter was, he didn’t turn into a force until his second year.

I’d also sign up for a reclamation project — a veteran who was highly regarded coming out of high school but hasn’t hit in his first few years. It won’t do much from a PR-perspective to add a vet without numbers, but an older guy who is “over himself” is the type I’d take a chance on.

Kevin, First and foremost we need a point guard. Secondly we need 2 forwards. Third, I might question whether to keep the assistant coaches or to make changes. Also, a backup center is a must.

Jim

I'm thinking they need to hit the portal for a seasoned point guard, and a big man that competes on the big east level. Also like to see adding additional shooting ...

Thoughts?

Alan

Assessing the roster for next year, who on this year’s team is Staying? Going? On the Bubble? Does Bryce Hopkins’ decision to stay or go impact other player’s decisions?

Thanks for the great coverage and insights this year!

Edward

Let’s group these three submissions together to demonstrate just how varied the needs look for this roster right now — and that’s without any announced departures yet. English has reiterated the importance of retention, but with frustration boiling over this year, it’s safe to wonder if we’re in for a complete reset.

Providence ended up being too thin in the frontcourt for the second year in a row under English. The three-headed center turned into just one reliable player, and he was a freshman. For the second year in a row, Providence had no reliable four to step in when Hopkins went down. It was understandable the first year the staff was here, but tougher to swallow this past season. They instead went with smaller stretch options like Ticket Gaines and Jabri Abdur-Rahim for non-Hopkins minutes. It left Oswin on an island and the defense suffered.

Hopkins’ decision could impact others. After Watson returned, PC also retained the likes of AJ Reeves, Noah Horchler, and Jared Bynum. That group really raised their games the next year. Sadly, it will likely come down to dollars and cents for so many outside of the program. Having Hopkins back would be great, but for most the focus will be on playing time and paychecks. Some kids get offers they simply can’t turn down.

With no current cap on how much schools can spend on athletes, can the “non-football schools” (like PC) keep up with football schools in athletics (particularly men’s basketball)?

Why I ask - There are only 3 non football schools in the top 25 at the moment. Seems to me the days of small, non football schools competing with the football schools in men’s basketball is fading. Especially now that athletes get paid.

My crazy idea - non-football schools (or maybe just the top 100 non football schools) should break away and form their own league. Similar to what the big east schools did a few years back.

Never gonna happen but would be nice to move on from the football nonsense. Just a thought.

John

That will be the question hanging over the heads of these programs over the next couple of years. The landscape could dramatically change on April 7, when the House v. NCAA settlement is set for a final approval hearing. Essentially, a revenue-sharing model would be in place in which schools can pay players directly. Those payments would start as early as this July. It looks like there would be a cap of about $20M that the biggest schools would be “limited” to annually.

NIL deals would still be in place, and the football schools obviously have massive budgets (the College Football Playoffs distributed more than $500 million to football conferences last year). Big East revenues are a fraction of the power football schools, but they also aren’t taking on the huge expenses that come with funding a football program.

Kevin-

I just watched two 60 Minutes interviews on You Tube that Friar Fans might find entertaining. One is with Dan Hurley and the other is with Bobby Knight. There is also one with Dan Hurley's father Bob which I found very interesting.

Alex

It’s interesting how much more humble and likable Hurley seems away from the court. A switch obviously flips when he takes to the sidelines.

Of course, the most interesting tidbit was when Hurley said that UConn — fresh off consecutive national titles — was dealing with about half its roster preparing to enter the transfer portal (with some kids already knowing where they are going) as the season is still ongoing. Imagine the discord on a losing team.

March is still the best, but the game we all love is broken in so many ways.

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Let’s end on this note for today. We still have plenty of questions to answer and will be back with part two later this week.