By the time the fall signing period ended, the results looked similar to what Friar fans had seen during the final few years of the Tim Welsh regime: a guard with a good, but not outstanding national appeal (Johnnie Lacy), two sleepers with vague interest from high major schools (Duke Mondy, James Still), a raw, but good looking big man prospect that was hearing from the likes of Boston College and Cincinnati (Kadeem Batts), and a junior college shooter who they hoped would provide stability once their cast of seniors left.
Given an additional few months to fill the final two scholarships in the spring, they landed another solid point guard (Vincent Council) prospect and took a flyer on a JUCO big man (Russ Permenter) as a short term solution to what was a glaring need.
The spring of 2009 brought groans in some of the more impatient corners about a Welsh-level recruiting class, but what followers of PC basketball didn't realize at the time was there was an all-conference point guard in the bunch and one of the highest rated juniors was on the verge of turning the tide.
The turning point
The verbal commitment of Gerard Coleman that June served notice that Providence would be a factor in the New England recruiting scene. They identified Coleman early, had him on campus several times, and fended off the likes of Clemson and Connecticut for his services.
Ranked 64th by Scout.com at the time and in the mid-50s on ESPN, Coleman was the highest rated player to commit to Providence in six years and those worried about Keno not upgrading the talent at PC had to feel better about the level of talent coming in.
"There's a lot of good times to come," Gerard told Kevin McNamara at the Providence Journal in June. "We can have one of the best backcourts around."
Swayed by the commitment of his good friend and AAU teammate at BABC, Notre Dame Prep bull Ron Giplaye followed suit a month later, giving Providence not only a well regarded duo (New England Recruiting Report has Giplaye sandwiched between Rod Odom and Tyler Olander in their class of 2010 rankings), but opened up a pipeline with a very good AAU program.
The sleeper
It's ironic now that Joseph Young out of Yates High School in Houston was a name few were aware of when he pledged his allegiance to the Friars in September. Chris Davis spotted Young in Las Vegas, the summer before he became an ESPN top 100 player and his team turned into a national story in the ensuing months.
Young went from under the radar type who Big 12 teams weren't ready to jump on to best player on the most news-worthy high school team in the country.
Before the season started he was the son of a former college star, a kid who reportedly found time to shoot 1,500 jumpers a day. By season's end Rick Reilly wrote a feature article on his coach, his team was highlighted on SportsCenter for running through everyone, while Young was the on-court story, leading Yates to the Texas Class 4A title for the second year in a row. He also managed to land MVPS of the T Mobile Invitational and Iolani Class along the way.
Keno's crew had landed a sleeper just before he could wake up the rest of the country.
Confirmation
Coleman, Young, and Giplaye round out a solid second class (first true class according to this site) for Davis and his staff. It was a haul as good as any since 2004.
Perhaps the loudest statement came last week when Naadir Tharpe committed to Providence in March of his junior year.
Coming off of a long losing streak to close the season, Providence fans needed a pick-me-up and got just that with the news of the highly rated point guard's plans to come to Smith Hill.
Two years into the job, Keno Davis has proven that he and his staff can identify under the radar talent, but more importantly win recruiting wars for the most sought-after talent in New England. Coleman was the eye-opener, Tharpe was the justification.
With Council, Coleman, Young, and Tharpe on the roster Gerard is starting to look like a prophet - PC will have one of the best backcourts around. Not sure if his definition of "around" meant across the United States, but the potential is there.
The days of excuses for why Providence can't recruit with the big boys are gone and big time players are buying into the notion of a Providence basketball revival.
