Saturday Night in Buffalo is a Moment 25 Years in the Making
“The game is long, but it goes fast.”
Ed Cooley has repeatedly come back to this phrase throughout Providence’s oh-so impressive 2021-22 season – a year that currently has them at 26-5 with a shot at their first Sweet 16 appearance since 1997 on Saturday night.
Cooley’s words are fitting for this time of year. Every possession from the opening tip feels so critical, but as we saw when the Friars took on South Dakota State on Thursday, leads come and go. And if this season has been any indicator, Providence will most likely be in a one possession game in the waning minutes against Atlantic-10 champion Richmond in Buffalo’s KeyBank Arena later on tonight.
It will be a moment 25 years in the making.
Providence has had just one opportunity to play for a spot in the Sweet 16 since God Shammgod, Austin Croshere, and Jamel Thomas led PC to the brink of the 1997 Final Four.
PC’s only chance since then never felt like an actual opportunity – taking on a powerhouse North Carolina club in Raleigh during the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Playing in a sea of blue and white, the Friars hung around for 25 minutes before Ben Bentil fouled out and Carolina won by 19 on their way to the national title game.
A win in Raleigh would have taken a minor miracle. This season, it’s different.
In 2022, Providence is as close to the NCAA Tournament’s second week as they have been since MJ still ruled the NBA, Brett Favre led Green Bay to a Super Bowl title over Drew Bledsoe, and Leo was shouting about being the king of the world.
Cooley has joked about the advanced age of his team all year, but none of them were alive the last time Providence reached the Sweet 16.
Those players largely deflected questions about what this accomplishment would mean to them and the program they have helped lead through this outstanding season.
When asked about being 40 minutes from the Sweet 16 in Friday’s media session, AJ Reeves said, “I don’t even know how to really answer that… We just take it as one game at a time. The Sweet 16 is a very viable goal for us, and it's an option for us. We just want to play our hardest out there and get that W.”
Andrew Fonts wouldn’t touch the Sweet 16 talk when asked what the coaching staff’s message was to the team as they are on the precipice of it. “It's definitely a quick turnaround. We have about 48 hours to prepare for them. We're trying just to pick up on any tendencies that we can,” Fonts said. “Obviously, we talked about the Princeton offense and trying to learn that as much as we can. We played against a couple of teams early in November that ran a similar offense, so, trying to pick up on some tendencies and really focus on us as well. We're a good team. We want to focus on what we can do. We're excited to play.”
In other words, we’re on to Richmond. Well done, Fonts.
It’s likely none of the players suiting up on Saturday night can truly grasp how a win would cement them as one of the most beloved Friar teams ever. They are an egoless sum-of-its-parts group that seemingly came out of nowhere to rip off 26 wins – each victory more exhilarating than the one prior. Hovering around a top ten ranking for much of the past two months, this group allowed Providence fans to dream big again.
Cooley has spoken all about dreams since taking over at Providence in 2011. At his opening press conference he implored everyone involved with this program – from administrators to players to fans – to envision cutting down nets, standing atop the Big East one day, and deep NCAA Tournament runs.
At several different points this year, Cooley has spoken of how he is already living a dream he could have never imagined as a kid.
Coming from where he did, Cooley is undoubtedly a success story regardless of what happens for the rest of his career.
He was asked on Friday if he thought that it was unfair that college coaches were deemed to be successful by their results in March.
“I think that's a very fair question, and I think as a coach, you can't worry about that. I think your fans want to get you there. I think those are people's opinions. I think if you sit in this seat that I'm sitting in, it's very difficult. It's very hard to advance, and everybody has expectations on you as the leader, as the coach.” Cooley said. “You label me however you want, but you are always going to label me someone who is going to give back and inspire our young men to be better than they think they are.”
For all that is at stake on Saturday night, with 25 years of waiting in our back pocket, those in the Providence locker room are solely focused on Richmond.
One day at a time – as they’ve said all year.
“When did I know we had a special team?” Cooley echoed back to a question about his group. “Obviously, it was a work in progress, yet in the months of June and July, I just saw the connection they were building off the court. I saw the connection that the staff had with them. I saw them wanting to be in the gym more than be in the dorm and just hanging out.”
“One game at a time, I thought our guys showed a lot of emotion towards togetherness, and they had an unbelievable will to want to win – and I still think that's in our DNA right now, so hopefully we can continue that.”
On the message to his players on Friday, Cooley shared: “The message was embrace the moment. There's going to be some ups and downs tomorrow night. There's going to be some disappointments over a period of time where we may turn it over, miss a shot here. We say the game is long, yet it goes fast, and we have to embrace this moment and try to capitalize on opportunities because they're going to go through the same thing.”
“I can tell you this, by Sunday morning, I can guarantee you Providence or Richmond will be advancing to the Sweet 16. I can guarantee you that. Right? Put it down. Somebody is moving forward, and the more disciplined, connected, lucky team – you're going to need a little luck in order to advance. Yet, it's my job and Coach Mooney's job to get the kids excited and inspired to move forward.”