Providence College Basketball Season Preview

Providence College Basketball Season Preview

The defending Big East Champion Providence College Friars open up their season on Saturday night at the Dunkin Donuts Center when they host the Albany Great Danes at at 7p.m. Prior to the game, the Friars will raise their Big East Championship Banner to the rafters in a final look back at last year's magical run. 

This season's Friars team comes in with some fresh young faces and some much needed depth, something head coach Ed Cooley has not had over the last couple of seasons. With depth on the bench this season, the Friars are going to be more of an aggressive team on defense and a running team on offense. Coach Cooley won't have to worry as much about foul trouble or wearing players out early in games. 

"They won't be much of a half court team this year. You will see a lot more fast break offense and more pressing on defense" Friar alum and radio analyst Joe Hassett said about this year's Friars team. 

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In the off season, the Friars did suffer a couple of blows to their line up. Sharp shooter Josh Fortune transferred, seemingly out of nowhere, and Rodney Bullock tore his ACL and is out for the season. 

"Fortunately this year Ed Cooley has a pretty deep bench" Hassett said. The loss of Bullock and Fortune means that the highly recruited freshman are going to get a real chance to play and will have an impact on this season. 

Guards

With Rodney Bullock out for the season, it is vital that Kris Dunn stay healthy this season. Dunn hasn't played that much over his first two years with the Friars but when he is in the game, he makes things happen. Last season against Vanderbilt, Dunn led the Friars in an epic comeback from an 18 point second half deficit. The 6'3" Dunn posted ten points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals in that game and then recorded six assists in the next game before having season ending shoulder surgery. 

"Kris Dunn has a tremendous amount of ability, because of him, the Friars are going to be a better defensive team this year" Hassett said about the red shirt sophomore guard. 

Next to Dunn at the guard position will be a combination of freshmen Kyron Cartwright Jalen Lindsey. Hassett revealed that Lindsey is playing with a fractured finger and so Kyron Cartwright will get the chance to start early on in the season. Cartwright is a 5'11" guard who is a good shooter but also enjoys setting up his teammates. In His last year in high school, he averaged 12 pioints and seven assists per game

"Cartwright is a better shooter then I thought he was" Hassett said of the freshman. 

Once Lindsey is fully healthy and in the line up, the Friars offense will become even more dynamic. According to Hassett, the 6'7" Lindsey is one of the best, if not the best, shooters on the team from short range and from beyond the three-point arc. In his final year of high school, Lindsey shot 52 percent from the field and 43 percent from three-point land. With his size, he will cause some mismatches with opposing guards and at times could be effective down in the post, depending on his match up. 

The Friars are very deep at the guard position this year which should make for some exciting fast paced basketball. 

Forwards

At the forward position, the Friars will be led by junior Tyler Harris and senior LaDontae Henton, especially early on in the season when the freshman are adjusting to the college game. 

Last season, the 6'6" Henton averaged 14 points per game which was second best to Bryce Cotton and just under eight rebounds per game which was the best on the team and second best in the Big East. LaDontae Henton is a scrappy player who is not afraid to mix it up a bit and brings toughness to this Friars line up. Henton seems poised for a big year. 

Tyler Harris comes into this year as a 6'9" junior, however this is only his second season with the Friars after transferring from NC State. Last season, Harris averaged 11.6 points and five rebounds per game for the Friars and got better as the year went on. 

"Harris and Henton will be more effective this year, then they were last year" Joe Hassett said of the pair who, at times will have to carry the Friars offense.

One player to watch is 6'8" freshman forward Ben Bentil who will be one of the first players off the bench for Ed Cooley this year. Bentil can play three positions for the Friars, center, forward and small forward plus he is a good shooter and loves to rebound the ball. Bentil is a player that is going to give coach Cooley several different options with his lineups and allow him to play the matchup game to perfection. 

The Schedule

The Friars open up the season with three straight home games before playing Florida State and Notre Dame at the Mohegan Sun Tip Off tournament. After that Providence pays a visit to Rupp Arena to take on Kentucky and then a road game at Boston College. The Friars will then play in state rivals URI and Brown in a two day span and will welcome in UMass shortly after that.

A pretty tough non-conference schedule should get the Friars ready for another run in the Big East. 

Click here for a further look at the schedule. 

The Friars are going to be an exciting team to watch this season, a lot of young talented players that are going to help the Friars make another run at a Big East Championship.