Reflections of a Lifelong Friar Fan: The Pitino Era
Craig Leighton returns with the latest in his Reflections series.
At the end of Joe Mullaney’s second tenure at Providence, the Friars were at their lowest point in the modern era of college basketball. They were entrenched as cellar dwellers in the Big East Conference by 1985 and nothing short of a miracle was going to get them out of their situation.
Enter Rick Pitino.
Hired by Athletic Director Lou Lamoriello, Pitino was an assistant coach for the New York Knicks under Hubie Brown when PC came calling.
Pitino had college experience. Before joining Brown’s staff with the Knicks, he was the head coach at Boston University where he was the youngest Division I head coach in the country. He also led the Terriers to their first NCAA Tournament bid in 24 years during his brief stint there.
Pitino somehow balanced being a brash, young coach while saying all of the right things. It was obvious from the start of his tenure at PC that he could get people to follow him. The question was: could he pull the reeling Friar program out of the doldrums?
Yes, Providence needed a miracle.
They got two of them.
The first came during the 1985-86 season. Instead of waiting to bring in his new players to start the program’s turnaround, Pitino took a group of leftovers from a team that finished with an 11-20 record and coached them to a 17-14 mark (7-9 in the Big East). He coached up players like Dave Kipfer, Pop Lewis, Jacek Duda, Al Roth, and Harold Starks and made them all substantially better. Providence won five Big East games in a season just once before Pitino coached them to a 7-9 mark in his first year.
His greatest achievement, however, was turning Billy Donovan from a marginal Division I player into a legitimate Big East star. During his sophomore season (a year prior to Pitino’s arrival) Donovan averaged 3.2 points a game. After one year under Pitino, Donovan was able to transform his body and also develop a deadly jump shot. He finished the season averaging a team-leading 15.1 points and 4.7 assists per game.
PC finished the regular season with four straight wins which propelled them into the NIT where they lost in the third round by a point to Louisiana Tech. Along the way, Pitino knocked off his former club in BU in the NIT.
The 1985-86 Friar team exceeded expectations and laid the groundwork for one of the most memorable seasons in Providence history.
Before the start of what would turn out to be the magical 1986-87 season I went to see the team at an organized practice at East Greenwich High School. Back then teams were allowed to practice off campus before the start of the season. After listening to Pitino throughout the practice I was hooked. He was a tremendous salesman. When I got home that night I told my father we would be cutting down the nets in March one day under Pitino. My father, a fellow Friar fan, looked at me like I had three heads.
The 1986-87 season was the first year of the three point shot in college basketball. Many college coaches, like Rollie Massamino at Villanova, said they were essentially ignoring the three point line and coaching the way they always had.
PC played Villanova twice during the regular season winning, 96-78, and 97-80.
Pitino was different from Massamino and many of his peers. He saw what the three point shot could do as an assistant coach during his tenure with the Knicks. Pitino stated before the season started that the Friars would take more three point shots than any other team in the country. At the end of the season that is exactly what they did.
The three pointer was PC’s secret weapon and one of the keys to the Friars’ unbelievable run to the Final Four. Providence took just under 20 threes a game and made them at a clip of 42% as a team.
Another key to Providence’s success was the addition of transfer Delray Brooks to the team at the semester break. Brooks was a former Mr. Basketball from Indiana who was regarded as one of the three or four best high school players in the country his senior year. Brooks was named USA Today’s high school player of the year when he was a senior in 1984. After his senior year he was only one of two high school players, along with Danny Manning, invited to the Olympic Basketball Trials.
A third key to the success of the ‘86-87 team was the continued transformation of Donovan, who had emerged as an All American-level player by his senior year. Donovan averaged over 20 points and seven rebounds a game.
In addition to Donovan, other key players returning included Ernie “Pop” Lewis, Dave Kipfer, Steve Wright, Jacek Duda, and Darryl Wright.
Promising newcomers Marty Conlon and Abdul Shamsid-Deen helped provide frontcourt depth, while freshman Carlton Screen contributed out of the backcourt.
After a 1-1 start, PC went on an eight-game winning streak before losing at Pittsburgh, 76-67, on Jan. 3. The Friars then proceeded to win seven straight Big East games before falling to Boston College on Feb. 3 in a heartbreaker at the old Boston Garden.
The highlight of the winning streak came on Jan. 28 when PC defeated 11th-ranked Georgetown at the Providence Civic Center, 82-79. For many Friar fans a highlight was a confrontation between Pitino and John Thompson where they almost came to blows. Of course, the biggest highlight came in the closing seconds when Pop Lewis hit a corner three to win it.
During the regular season, the Friars finished with a 20-7 record and were assured a bid in the NCAA Tournament as they prepared for the Big East Tournament.
After losing in the second round of the Big East Tournament to Georgetown, the Friars received terrible news on the way home from New York City. A state trooper pulled over the Friar bus and informed Pitino that his infant son, Daniel, had passed away. This tragedy would remain as a cloud over the Friars during the NCAA Tournament.
Providence earned a sixth seed in the NCAA Tournament, but unfortunately drew Alabama Birmingham in the first round — playing them in Birmingham, Alabama. The “home” crowd did not phase the Friars as they beat UAB, 90-68.
In the second round it looked like the Friars received a huge break as they were facing 14th seeded Austin Peay, who had upset third ranked Illinois in the first round. That was not to be the case, however, as PC had to come storming back down the stretch with a 12-2 run to tie Peay in regulation. They eventually defeated the Governors, 90-87, behind Pop Lewis’ 26 points and Donovan’s 25.
The Friars were in the Sweet 16. A program that had been left for dead just two years prior was now the talk of the college basketball world… and the talk of Rhode Island. It seemed everywhere you went, people were buzzing about the resurgent Friars.
The Southeast regionals were taking place at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. In shockingly easy fashion, Providence rolled over second-seeded Alabama, 101-76. Donovan finished with 26 points, while Brooks added 23 to propel PC to the Elite Eight, setting up a matchup with Georgetown.
This would be the fourth time that the Friars and Hoyas played that season. Georgetown was heavily favored, and had just defeated the Friars in the Big East Tournament by 18 points.
Providence had other ideas, however, as they truly were a team on a magical ride. PC won going away, 88-73. On this day it would be Donovan and Darryl Wright each scoring 20 points for PC in the victory.
And with that, the miracle was complete. A team that two years ago had no business being in any postseason tournament was headed to the Final Four! The Friars were Cinderella and the talk of the sports world.
Pitino and Donovan were featured on the Today Show and other national shows. The local news led off every newscast with the Friars all week before the Final Four. The whole state was following every move of the Cinderella Friars.
Unfortunately, midnight came early in the Final Four. They faced a Syracuse team in the national semifinals that they lost to twice in the regular season. This game was no different, as the Orangemen controlled the game and won going away, 77-63.
The miracle ride was over, but what a season it was. Legends were made. Pitino and Donovan became household names. Coaches like Herb Sendek, Stu Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy launched their careers as assistants with the Friars.
And Providence fans were on cloud nine and looking forward to many more great seasons under Pitino.
Unfortunately, sometimes things don’t work out as planned...
Thanks to Marvin Barnes’ Time Machine on Vimeo and FriarTV for capturing all of the great memories in the videos above.