The season ended on a lengthy losing streak and there were well-documented off-court issues, all the while recruiting at Providence is as strong at Providence as it had been in over a decade. It is truly a great paradox.
There have been plenty for Providence fans to gripe with over the past nine months, but the optimists have always had the future to cling to. With Texas’ player of the year and ESPN and Parade All American Joseph Young heading north to Providence the Friars had the dead eye shooting guard they’ve long lacked.
Add Scout’s 35th ranked senior in Gerard Coleman and a host of big bodies and the result is the 5th ranked recruiting class in the Big East according to an article this week from ESPN. Providence's class is rated higher than powers Villanova, Louisville, West Virginia, and Pittsburgh.
Even after a chaotic offseason and little on court success, still the recruiting machine at Providence churned out a top rated class and looked to reinforcements in the form of Naadir Tharpe (verbal commitment), and a host of 2012 studs from New England who had PC high on their lists (most notably Notre Dame Prep product Khem Birch).
Providence fans have become accustomed to rebuilding over the past five years and while there were cringe-worthy moments during the season and more significant ones after it, few could argue the improvements made on the recruiting trail in Keno Davis’ two years here.
While it feels like years, just two months ago things were looking way up in Friartown with the commitment of Tharpe. Friartown was alive unlike it had been since 2004. Coleman was proof that they could land the big time local target and Tharpe confirmed that they would be doing so regularly.
The assault charges levied against James Still and Johnnie Lacy were a major black eye on the program, the dismissal of the team’s leading scorer and rebounder elevated the concern level to Orange, and the news of Pat Skerry leaving to another Big East program this week, one that he and his staff out-recruited this year according to ESPN, stung the most because it hit the Friars where they were most optimistic and successful: New England recruiting.
Challenges Ahead
Much has been written about the shortcomings of Providence over the past year, and while some may argue that losing Skerry to a Big East rival is an indictment on the athletic department and head coach, Skerry had only been working at PC for two years and had an opportunity to move on to an established power with amazing facilities and recent success to sell. The job is a step up.
Rather than add to the growing list of commentary on where the program has fallen short of late, it is time for Keno Davis and his staff to learn from mistakes of the past, but not harp on them. He has a lot of work to do and he knows as well as anyone that he has to start right away.
Five key challenges the summer of 2010
- Find another recruiter. This is an obvious one and should be the top priority. Does losing Skerry mean that Providence has to start over again with New England stars like Ricky Ledo, Khem Birch, and Nerlins Noel? Perhaps, and it would be disappointing to see Providence fall by the wayside with talented players who were seriously considering the Friars, but the job of the next guy is to try to pick up where Skerry left there and start building towards other leads. There is a lot of talent to be had and Providence needs someone as tenacious as Skerry to replace him.
- Get Naadir Tharpe on the phone. The talented point guard would add to an already deep backcourt group if Young and Coleman pan out and equally important, a sense of stability and continuity. A committed Tharpe sends a message to Friar fans and recruits across New England that Providence is still a forced to be reckoned with.
- Stabilize the program with positivity. At the end of the day, this program has seen a lot of turnover in the past year, but the only true on-court impact player was Greedy Peterson. For all of the ‘sky is falling talk’, much of which is justified, this is still a program featuring one of the best young point guards in the league and adding two guards who are as good as any added since God Shamgod. Those three guards have the potential to make up the foundation of a winner in the Big East, the challenge will be to find big men who can flank them.
- Find, or become, the enforcer. Rumors of in-season bar room brawls turned into news stories of assaults and incidents with 15 year olds by season’s end. Responsibility has to be taken by both the coaching staff and the players to avoid any embarrassing stories coming out again. Providence fans have stomached more than their fair share of rebuilding years and will continue to support the team through lean years, but incidents that tarnish the school’s reputation are a different story.
- Defend the rim. Keno has a chance to silence his critics with an improved defensive squad next year. Young teams are rarely great defensive teams, and this team will be very young, but you won’t find many Providence fans who wouldn’t be thrilled with a season that resulted in chemistry among Council/Coleman/Young and an improved interior defense. Turning next year’s team into a middle of the road Big East defensive team would be a major improvement and combining that with evidence of vastly improved guard play and this program will be back up and running soon enough.
