PC Basketball Picked to Finish 9th in the Big East
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
PC Basketball Picked to Finish 9th in the Big East
See the Full Rankings Below
The Friars were picked ahead of only DePaul, while directly behind Marquette and St. John's, who were picked seventh and eighth respectively.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDefending national champion Villanova was picked to finish first in the conference.
PC Basketball
The Friars are coming off a 2015-16 campaign in which they went 24-11 overall and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to North Carolina.
After losing both Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil to the NBA Draft, the Friars return junior forward Rodney Bullock as well as guards Jalen Lindsey, Kyron Cartwright and Ryan Fazekas, all who have starting experience.
The Friars have made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
Season Tip-Off
Providence will begin their regular season on Monday, November 14 when they host Vermont at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.
The Friars will begin Big East play on December 28 when they visit Xavier.
PC Basketball's Comings and Goings
Gone
Ben Bentil
Ben Bentil declared for the 2016 NBA Draft after being named the Big East's Most Improved Player in 2015-16.
After averaging just 6.4 points per game as a freshman, Ben Bentil averaged 21.2 points per game overall and 22.9 points per game in conference play, making him the leading scorer in the Big East.
Bentil is the 7th Friar all-time to lead the league in scoring and the fourth Friar in the last six seasons to do it.
Bentil was named the Big East's Most Improved Player, joining Kadeem Batts (2013) and Herbert Hill (2007) as Friar recipients of the Big East Most Improved Player Award.
GONE
Tyree Chambers
Tyree Chambers announced that he was leaving the program at the beginning of May. His departure marked the second player to leave the program in a week.
In 2015-16, Chambers averaged 0.2 points, 0.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game while playing an average of 2.4 minutes per game. Chambers played only 24 minutes the entire season.
In 2014-15, Chambers missed the first ten games due to a leg injury and upon his return only played 5 minutes the entire season.
GONE
Quadree Smith
Quadree Smith announced that he was leaving the program in early May.
Smith played in 19 games and averaged 1.7 points and 1.1 rebounds per game for the Friars. Smith will have three years of eligibility remaining.
GONE
Junior Lomomba
Junior Lomomba graduated from Providence College in May of 2016 and decided to not return for his final season of eligibility. He has since announced that he is headed to Western Kentucky.
“We want to wish Junior all the best in his future plans. Junior provided so much to the program over the last three seasons. His leadership and work ethic were integral to our team’s success. We appreciate all his contributions to Friar basketball,” said PC Head Coach Ed Cooley.
In 2015-16, he averaged 5.3 points, 2.5 rebounds nd 1.9 assists in 24.4 minutes per game.
Lomomba played 16 minutes in each of PC's two NCAA Tournament games and scored 2 points and pulled down three rebounds combined in the two games.
Lomomba came to Providence after one season at Cleveland State and played 66 career games for the Friars, helping them reach three straight NCAA Tournaments.
GONE
Kris Dunn
Kris Dunn graduated from Providence College in 2016 and has entered the NBA Draft with one year of eligibility remaining. Dunn skipped out on the NBA Draft after his junior season, returning to school instead.
In his senior season, Dunn averaged 16.4 points, 6.2 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game, leading the Friars to the second round of the NCAA Tournament as a redshirt junior.
Dunn was named the Big East Player of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year in each of the past two seasons.
GONE
Paschal Chukwu
Sophomore 7'2" center Paschal Chukwu transferred to Syracuse prior to the 2015-16 season.
In one season with Providence, Chukwu averaged 2.6 points and 2.4 rebounds in 29 games along with totaling 23 blocked shots on the season.
Chukwu averaged 10 minutes per game for the Friars.
Chukwu sat out the 2015-16 season with the Orange and will be eligible to play in 2016-17.
GONE
Ricky Ledo
Okay, it's a bit of a long shot, however, Ricky Ledo would have been eligible to play during the 2016-17 season with an academic redshirt after he was ineligible to play during is freshman season, 2012-13.
Ledo opted to go to the NBA Draft.
In April of 2016, Ledo signed with Santeros de Aguada of the Puerto Rican League but was waived on May 12.
Prior to that, Ledo played for the Reno Bighorns of the NBA D-League where he made the All-Star team in 2016 after averaging 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 30 minutes a game in 30 games.
COMING
Kalif Young
Most recently (as of 5-24-2016) PC got a commitment from canadian forward Kalif Young.
Rivals.com ranks Young as a 3 star recruit.
Young will join newcomers Maliek White, Alpha Diallo and Emmitt Holt on the court this season. Isaiah Jackson will also be eligible to play after sitting out last season due to transfer rules. He came over from George Mason.
The Friars have one scholarship remaining for the 2016-17 season but are booked for 2017-18.
COMING
Alpha Diallo
The Friars got a commitment from top 100 recruit Alpha Diallo a 6'6" wing player from Brewster Academy.
Diallo is ranked 95th in ESPN's Top 100 for the Class of 2016. Last summer, Diallo played with the Colorado Hawks on the Adidas Gauntlet circuit where he averred 13.7 points, 6.8 rebounds per game in 12 games.
Diallo also played for team Africa in the Adidas Nations where he averaged 20.5 points and 10.7 rebounds in six games.
Diallo was also recruited by Indiana, Florida, Miami, Seton Hall, Connecticut and VCU amongst others.
COMING
Emmitt Holt
In April of 2016, PC landed junior college transfer Emmitt Holt from Iowa's Indian Hills Community College.
Holt is a 6'8" forward who will have two years of eligibility at PC and is available immediately. He is a native of Webster, New York.
Holt played for the Indiana Hoosiers during the 2014-15 season where he averaged 3.6 points and 3 rebounds per game before being dismissed from the school after multiple off the court issues.
Holt's Off the Court Issues
According to reports, Holt was dismissed after he was cited for illegal possession of alcohol just ten months after hitting a teammate with a car after drinking.
COMING
Maliek White
Providence got a commitment in November of 2015 from four star recruit Maliek White a guard from Virginia.
White is a 6'2," 170 pound guard who plays for George Wythe High School in Richmond under head coach Willard Coker.
White is rated as a four star recruit and the 28th best point guard in the country by Scout.com. ESPN.com ranks White as the 31st best point guard in the country and ninth best player in Virginia. \
White led George Wythe to the state title in 2015, averaging 30 points, five rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 65 percent from the field, including 54 percent from three-point land.
White was named the 3A-East Region Player of the Year and Conference 26 Player of the year.
COMING
Isaiah Jackson
Forward Isaiah Jackson transferred to Providence from George Mason prior to this past season (2015-16). After sitting out this past season, Jackson will be eligible to play for PC this season.
In his freshman season at George Mason, Jackson averaged 8.7 points and 3.9 rebounds while played 26 minutes per game.
Jackson has three years of eligibility left for Providence.
