Providence's coaching staff overhaul continues with hiring of Bryan Tibaldi from the Cleveland Cavaliers

The Friars are going to look a lot different both on the court and on the sidelines next season.

Providence announced the hiring of Bryan Tibaldi as an assistant coach on Tuesday. Tibaldi (a former walk-on at Michigan State whose stops have included stints with the Chicago Bulls, the University of Missouri, Cleveland State, DePaul, and most recently the Cleveland Cavaliers) replaces Nate Tomlinson, who is expected to join the coaching staff at Colorado.

Tibaldi had been with the Cavs since 2019, and early in his career he coached Providence head man Kim English at Missouri.

“We are thrilled to welcome Bryan and his family to Providence," English said in a statement released by the school.

“Bryan is a brilliant and dedicated basketball coach. He played and was a graduate assistant under Hall of Famer Tom Izzo. Bryan cut his teeth as a young coach with the Chicago Bulls. He also had as big of an impact on me as a player at Missouri as anyone and after six seasons at the Cleveland Cavaliers, we are very excited to have Bryan join us in Friartown. It is a tremendous opportunity for our team and players to be coached by people who have extensive experience, not only with successful college programs, but who have intimately witnessed success in the NBA.”

The son of a pair of coaches, Tibaldi joins Providence great Ryan Gomes on the PC staff, as both Tomlinson and Tim Fuller (University of Missouri) are headed elsewhere. The Friar coaching staff will be heavy on NBA experience with the additions of Gomes and Tibaldi, as well as assistant Dennis Felton.

Neither Gomes or Tibaldi have been members of a college basketball staff since the explosion of the transfer portal and the emergence of Name, Image, and Likeness, however. Gomes has never coached in college, while Tibaldi’s experience consists of two seasons as an assistant at Cleveland State, two years as Director of Basketball Operations at DePaul, and four seasons as a Video Coordinator and Director of Operations at Missouri. Tibaldi was also a graduate assistant for two years under Tom Izzo at Michigan State.

Aside from work with the current players, where Tibaldi figures to make a difference is in breaking down film of recruits and players in the portal. He has an extensive background doing so for both NBA teams and high-level college programs.

Tibaldi has deep ties to the Providence staff, as he not only coached at Missouri during English’s playing career, he was also hired by Felton when he was the head coach at Cleveland State.

Providence also announced the hiring of Shaun Brown as High Performance Coach in May, replacing Chase Campbell. Brown was on the Friar staff from 1989-92, and returns with 30 years of experience that include 25 seasons in the college ranks and eight in the NBA. Brown was on the staff of three Final Four teams at Kentucky in the 1990s.

Both the Friar staff and roster will have a dramatically different look in 2025-26.