With Bryce Hopkins gone for the season with a torn ACL, Providence faces significant questions ahead

After Providence fell, 61-57, to Seton Hall on Wednesday night, all that was left for the Friar faithful was to hold their collective breath.

In a season filled with promise, of hope, of bitterness, of intrigue, and of optimism, the 11,000+ plus fans that packed into the Amica Mutual Pavilion will likely never forget what they heard with just over 15 minutes to play.

The building that has turned into one of the wildest venues in all of college basketball following the pandemic — a party atmosphere every time Providence takes to the floor — fell dead silent when Bryce Hopkins, the Friars’ 1st Team All Big East selection from a season ago, was seen writhing in pain holding his knee.

Hopkins had just grabbed a rebound (his eighth of the game) with 15 minutes to play in the second half when he collapsed to the floor after finding Devin Carter for a layup. He could be heard throughout the arena screaming in pain near center court, and when he was helped to his feet his left leg was quivering.

Hopkins departed with the help of trainers and teammates, and disappeared into the tunnel to the locker room for the final time this season.

On Thursday morning, Providence sent a press release noting that Hopkins had torn the ACL in his left knee and was gone for the year.

Heading into this season, Hopkins’ story was shaping up to one of Friar legend. A top 40 player in the class of 2021 out of Illinois, he gave strong consideration to shocking the world and committing to PC over Kentucky, before joining the likes of Shaedon Sharpe and Oscar Tshiebwe in yet another recruiting haul for John Calipari.

During the summer prior to his freshman year at UK, Hopkins was getting buzz as the biggest surprise of camp, but an injury derailed his hot start and he never found his way into the Wildcats’ rotation.

In a college basketball recruiting world that moves at warp speed, Hopkins’ transfer to Providence barely made a ripple, but by January of his sophomore year the country had been put on notice after he dominated Marquette to the tune of 29 points and 23 rebounds, and then when he scored 27 versus #4 UConn — both Friar victories.

Before Providence faltered over the final two weeks of the season, Hopkins was at the heart of the Big East Player of the Year conversation. He then had a shot at redemption against Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but managed just seven points and eight boards as the Friars bowed out in round one.

When Ed Cooley left for Georgetown three days after the Kentucky loss, there were significant questions about the future of the program, specifically if Hopkins and fellow rising sophomore Devin Carter would return to play for a new coach.

Much like Nate Watson had done a few years prior when the Friars looked to be facing a sizable rebuild (albeit under very different circumstances), Hopkins and Carter decided to return, and just like that Providence went from despair to optimism for the immediate future.

While Watson was rewarded with a Sweet 16 appearance in his final season in a PC uniform, Hopkins’ junior year came to a screeching halt when his knee gave way.

He entered his junior year with dreams of leading Providence deep into March and hearing his name called in this June’s NBA Draft. Despite averaging over 16 points and eight rebounds per game prior to Wednesday, he was fighting his way through a terrible shooting slump from three. Regardless, the Friars were 11-2 heading into Wednesday and ranked 23rd in the country. With the backing of a defense ranked in the top ten nationally, this team felt like it had another level to it once Hopkins started getting his jumper rolling. Now, we’ll never know what that would have looked like.

Over the past three seasons the building formerly known as The Dunk had seen virtually everything: from unmitigated joy (three thrilling wins over Marquette, triple overtime versus Xavier, upsetting UConn, and clinching a Big East regular season title), to heartbreak (falling to Villanova in 2022 and seeing the season slip away late in 2023). We all anxiously awaited something none of us have experienced when Ed Cooley and Georgetown come to town later this month.

On Wednesday, we all saw something we hadn’t seen, or heard, at the AMP in recent years: shocked silence. The old building roared again as Providence rallied before faltering in the final four minutes, but the loss of Hopkins 14 hours later was a pure gut punch for a fanbase with an enormous chip on its shoulder following the departure of Cooley. The revenge tour hit a major speed bump.

So much seemed to be riding on this season: pride, anticipation, and the chance to make a statement that the Friars would be just fine moving forward with Kim English. No need for a rebuild here.

Instead, Bryce Hopkins is gone for the season.

Now what?

English has a considerable challenge ahead of him — one made more challenging by roster attrition that started as far back as last spring (Alyn Breed, Justyn Fernandez), continued with a surprise transfer in September (Will McNair), and peaked with the injury to Hopkins.

Gone is the nightly double double that was Bryce Hopkins. The loss of one of the best rebounders and most explosive interior scorers in the Big East leaves Providence with a paper-thin frontcourt made up of the ever-steady Josh Oduro being spelled by redshirt sophomore Rafael Castro, who has two made field goals and gotten nine rebounds in the seven games since the calendar flipped to December.

English will likely bump Ticket Gaines from wing to stretch four and hope that A. he can hold up in the Big East at 6’7, 190 pounds, and B. that he can rebound like he did two seasons ago when he averaged 8.1 boards a night at George Mason (he is currently averaging 8.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game).

Then, Providence will have to put faith in its underclassmen. Can Corey Floyd Jr. consistently look like the player who sparked Providence with six points and seven boards in 19 minutes versus Seton Hall? Will freshman Garwey Dual trend more toward 25 minutes per game, after seeing just ten on Wednesday? Can Rich Barron give English increased minutes as a strong-bodied wing with range? Does this mean we might see freshmen Donovan Santoro or Eli DeLaurier see playing time?

No one player will come close to replacing Hopkins, of course, and if PC is going to figure this out it may take weeks.

As soon as Carter and Hopkins returned, the expectations for Providence — and its new head coach — flipped. It was almost as if English had to win in his first year with two all-conference level players returning.

Now he has to figure out how he goes about it without his star forward.