And we’re back!
We’ve spent all offseason reflecting on Providence’s amazing 2021-22 run, looking into a recruiting class that will need to pay immediate dividends, and breaking down three exhibition games at the newly-anointed Amica Mutual Pavilion (AMP). Now it’s time to see what Ed Cooley and his Friars have in store for an encore following a Big East regular season title and the school’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 1997.
While appreciative of the accomplishments of last season’s team, Cooley sounds ready to turn the page and give the current group its due, “I think we’ve got to give this team an opportunity to develop their “it”, their identity, their own sense of winning and/or losing. We’ve got to do everything we can to get past last year to give this team our full attention, our full support, and our energy toward us getting them to be the best that they can be,” Cooley said on his Coach’s Show with John Rooke last week.
“A lot of the attention is on last year still. Quite frankly, that bothers me, yet I’m appreciative of people recognizing what those young men did. We’ve got a whole new group, and that is yesterday’s news. Today’s news is the 2022-23 Friars, and we’ve got to do everything we can do to get them where they need to go.”
With that being said, let’s take a look at what’s ahead for Cooley’s Friars this week.
Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 6:30pm: Rider at Providence (Fox Sports 1, WPRO: 630AM/99.7FM
The Friars open their season against a Rider team that finished 14-19 overall and 8-12 in the MAAC last season, but made a lot of noise in their conference tournament when they knocked off Rick Pitino-led Iona.
Prior to the pandemic, Rider had things rolling a bit, with an 18-12 record (12-8 in conference) in 2019-20, preceded by records of 16-15 (11-7) in 2019, and 22-10 (15-3) the year prior.
They haven’t had a winning season since 2020, however. Prior to last year’s 14-19 mark, they went 6-17 in 2021.
Still, there is reason for optimism in Lawrence Township, NJ. The Broncs were picked third in the MAAC by the league’s coaches in the preseason (and that was prior to Manhattan blowing up in recent weeks). They return four starters and had three players named all-conference in the preseason, headlined by first team guard Dwight Murray Jr. who averaged over 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists per game last season.