Providence's offseason takes a positive turn with recent hires

Providence College basketball had an image problem this spring. After a difficult ending to the season was followed by departures of a handful of players, two coaches, and two key recruits Friar fans were reeling once June rolled around.

Fast forward one month and quietly Keno Davis has done a solid job of rebuilding his coaching staff by hiring a coach with key connections in New England and beyond, and another who spent a decade playing basketball at the highest level.
Yet, to look at Chris Driscoll as simply a recruiter would be a mistake according to Leo Papile and the same could be said for generically labeling Kevin Gamble as a former NBA player.

In hiring Driscoll Providence has taken strides to fill the recruiting void left by Pat Skerry, and in Gamble Friars can learn under a player who played alongside four Hall of Famers. There is a lot more they can learn from these two coaches than simple X’s and O’s however.

Gamble was a kid who just wanted to make his high school team in the early 80s. When he emerged as his high school’s best player and one of the best in Illinois he hoped to play at the division 1 level, but didn’t get any offers. After proving himself at Lincoln College in Illinois Gamble earned a scholarship to Iowa as part of the school’s famed class of 1985. The class, headlined by BJ Armstrong, featured five players who all played in the NBA after leading Iowa to the Elite 8 in 1987, a magical year in Providence of course.

While many remember him as the starting small forward for the Boston Celtics who averaged 15 points per game finishing third in the league in field goal percentage in the 1990-91 season, Gamble did not follow a traditional course to the league.
He played sparingly in his first season at Iowa. Head coach George Raveling played him inconsistently during that junior season and tried to squeeze the 6’5 Gamble into his power forward rotation. At season’s end Raveling was gone, Dr. Tom Davis was in, and Gamble flourished during his senior season.

After the Elite 8 run he was drafted in the 3rd round by Portland in ’87. Once again, playing time was hard to come by and he was eventually let go by the Blazers. Tryouts for the Bucks and Pistons did not result in contract offers, so Gamble took his game to wherever a game was being played.

He put up huge numbers in leagues ranging from the CBA to the Philippines before getting a chance to join the Boston Celtics after Larry Bird went down in 1989. Again, playing time was difficult to come by in that first season, but he showed enough promise for Boston to bring him back for another season. Playing behind the likes of Larry Bird and Reggie Lewis, playing time was sparse in his second season in Boston, but by year three Bird was physically limited and Gamble had proven enough to find himself in the starting lineup of Boston’s playoff teams in 1990-91 and 91-92.

How much can kids at Providence learn from a man who just wanted to make the team in high school, didn’t get a D1 offer and had to earn it at a lower level, didn’t see the court during his first season at Iowa, and traveled the globe trying to make the NBA before retiring as a 10 year veteran?

After such a trying spring in Providence this program needs a level of perseverance and who better to help them than a man whose basketball journey has forced him to repeatedly prove he belonged?

Driscoll comes to Smith Hill as a recruiter first, and as a defensive mind second, but his ability to develop Friars off the court could be equally significant. For a program looking to not only improve the on-court product, but the off-court image, Driscoll looks like the right fit.

A disciplinarian according to Leo Papile and a mentor according to Ron Giplaye, Driscoll’s off-court resume is as impressive as his on-court results.

According to the press release on Friars.com, “Driscoll also served as director of MARA, a division of Community Teamwork in Lowell, Mass., since 1999. At MARA, he was the director of a goal focused program that provided support and services to at-risk youth through one-on-one mentoring as they worked toward their goal of attending college. Driscoll oversaw fund raising, grant writing, community partnerships and direct mentoring of at-risk youths. He helped raise more than $10 million in grant and scholarship money.”

Yes, the departure of Skerry stung as he did a tremendous job of positioning Providence with some of the best young talent in America, but for every Naadir Tharpe there is a Myles Mack. For every Khem Birch there is a Nerlins Noel. This spring was upsetting to program supporters not because of the on-court problems, but the offseason fallout. Transfers can be replaced, recruits supplanted by other recruits, and losses are always forgotten soon enough, but the reputation of a program is not always as quick to heal. These two hires could go a long ways towards doing so.

With these two hires Keno Davis suddenly has a staff member who can share stories about Larry Bird’s practice habits and one with deep connections across some of the best AAU teams in the nation, but just as importantly he has added two men with experience in developing young men and were praised specifically for their character by some of the most influential names in the game.

I wrote a month ago that there was nothing Keno could do this spring to “win” this offseason after such a disastrous spring, that his next big win would have to come on the court next season, but with these two hires Davis has shown a level of resiliency himself. While the offseason is not yet a win for this program there are still two months and a huge July AAU circuit left for Keno to serve me some crow. Quietly, Keno Davis made these hires and in the process has quieted a lot of the negative talk surrounding this program just a month ago. It’s not a win yet, but it’s a solid step in the right direction for a program that took a few steps backwards earlier in the spring.

June 26th Quick Hits

I'll have more on the Chris Driscoll hire this weekend, but for now some quick hits as we head into the weekend.

• While he hasn’t even started his sophomore year at PC yet, Vincent Council has now played with two NBA draftees: Lance Stephenson at Lincoln (NY) and then with Hassan Whiteside at the Patterson School (NC) who both went in the 2nd round on Thursday night.
• As Adam Finkelstein noted in my interview with him last week, the hiring of Chris Driscoll would not only open up a pipeline with BABC, but with other Nike programs – most significantly the New Jersey Playaz. The Playaz might be the top AAU program in the country, featuring ESPN top 100 players Myles Mack and Myles Davis, in addition to big man Derrick Randall, Vaughn Gray, and two-sport star Keith Lumpkin. Isaiah Epps, Fuquan Edwin, and Ronald Roberts also played for the Playaz a year ago. The program has seen a number of stars over the past five years including Wayne Ellington, Gerald Henderson, Rick Jackson, Earl Clark, Corey Raji, Mike Rosario, Dominic Cheek, and Chris Gaston. Would the hiring of Driscoll expand PC’s efforts outside of New England, while keeping them strong locally? Time will tell.

• Looking for a sleeper out of Jersey? Keep an eye on Kazembe Abif, an athletic small forward out of Elizabeth, NJ who plays above the rim. His stock is on the rise after an impressive summer. The two sport star (D1 wide receiver prospect) is a great kid too from what folks in Jersey tell me.

• Sticking with the New Jersey theme, Shaquille Thomas was very impressive at the National Prep Invitational in February playing for a NIA Prep team that defeated eventual National Champion Brewster Academy (they were 2-0 against Brewster this season) and took out a Westwind Prep (AZ) team that competed in the National Championship in March. NIA Prep had around eight D1 prospects and Thomas was among the most talented. Not billed as a great shooter early in his career, Shaq seemingly didn’t miss from mid-range against Brewster and looks to be a solid athlete. He’s bounced around a few high schools, but seems to have found a home at NIA Prep where he says he is getting more 1:1 attention scholastically.

• Interesting to note that ESPN now ranks Mike Carter-Williams 25th in the country for the class of 2011. The kid has had his share of local detractors for some reason, but for my money ESPN/Scouts Inc. does a better job than anyone at ranking prospects. Jim Boeheim must have known what he was doing when he accepted a verbal from Mike last fall.

• Had a chance to see the team scrimmage recently and got my first look at Dre Evans and Brice Kofane. Kofane looks more like a small forward and is raw offensively, but he really gets after it on the defensive end. He outworked everyone on that side of the ball, but was less of a help defender/shot blocker and more of an on-ball defender on this day. Have to see more of him protecting the rim to get a true sense of what type of defensive impact he could have here, but he was at least very willing to get after it out to the perimeter and beyond. Evans shoots a quirky, slingshot jumper that consistently went in during warm-ups, but not as much during the game.

• Kadeem Batts is a better athlete than I realized. He looks all of 6’9, with a great body, and really gets up and down the court well. Would have loved to see him as a 15 minute per game energy guy backing up Bilal Dixon and Greedy Peterson in his first season, but he might get thrust into big minutes now that Peterson is gone. Looks to have the highest upside out of any of the young big men and should really benefit playing with a push point like Council.

• Speaking of athletic big men, Khem Birch is now ranked 3rd in the country for the class of 2012 according to ESPN. Dying to see how Birch and Angel Nunez look at Notre Dame Prep this season under Ryan Hurd.

• Home games against Rutgers, DePaul, South Florida, St. John’s, Cincinnati, and a Notre Dame team that lost a lot of talent this year? There are some winnable games in there for the Friars. Will the crowd have much of a reaction when Pat Skerry returns to Providence?

Taking a step away: Shaq's impact on Kobe's legacy

While I don't plan on writing about much outside of Providence basketball, there are certain hoops stories that I will cover, especially during the offseason when news is slower. 

After winning his fifth title, Kobe Bryant determined his post game press conference was as good a time as any to show just how petty he can be.  After making note of having more championships than Shaquille O'neal in a postgame interview with Hannah Storm on ESPN, Kobe decided to hammer home the point in his postgame press conference to a sycophantic LA media contingent who began hooting and hollering before he could get the words out of his mouth.

No words about all of the great teammates he's played with and how he would never have one ring without the likes of Robert Horry, Rick Fox, or Ron Harper.  Nothing about how fortunate he is to have played for a coach with 11 rings.  He merely shrugged when told that Shaq came out and said that Kobe is now the greatest Laker of all time (how quickly we forget a 20 year old Magic Johnson clinching a title on 42, 15 and 7 with Kareem Abdul Jabbar sidelined with a sprained ankle - a far cry from 6-24 in game 7, no?).

The NBA: where petulant superstars happens.

One could spend hours talking about the flaws in Bryant's personality, but there is no denying his greatness as a player.  The irony of people comparing Kobe to MJ in his postgame press conference and him pulling Shaq into the equation is that it's obvious he's no MJ and a better debate would be between him and his former teammate.

While it is easy to forget just how dominant Shaq was for a twelve-year stretch, O'neal is the best player of his generation and was clearly the most important Laker of the franchise's run at the turn of the century.

Sure, Kobe has one more ring than Shaq, but it was the big man who simply could not be stopped on his way to three straight NBA Finals MVPs, with Bryant playing a supporting role.  Here is how the two played together in the Finals during their three title campaigns.

2000 Finals:

Shaq 38 and 17 (MVP)
Kobe 15, 4, 4 shooting 36.7% in series


2001 Finals:

Shaq 33 and 15 (MVP)
Kobe 24, 6, 5 41%


2002 Finals:

Shaq 36 and 12 (MVP)
Kobe 26, 5, 5


Post-championship run

When Shaq played like a Hall of Fame center in the 2004 Finals and not a top-tier Hall of Fame center (still averaged 27 and 11 shooting 63% from the field, while Kobe put up 23 on 38% shooting), the Lakers lost to a far less talented Detroit Pistons team in 2004. 

In 2003-04 the Lakers fought through injuries, but still won 56 games that season.  Meanwhile, out in Miami a young Heat team finished two games above .500 at 42-40.

At season's end the Heat traded over half of their starting lineup (Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, and Caron Butler) for O'neal.  Pat Riley said at the time, "We feel we have traded for the best player in the NBA.  You don't get many chances to acquire the best player in the league."

After trading 3/5s of their starting lineup to acquire Shaq, the Heat won an impressive 19 more games in the 2004-05 season, riding Shaq and the emerging Dwayne Wade (who went from 16 ppg in the season prior to Shaq coming to Miami, to 24 in his first year there).

The 2004-05 Lakers?  A 56-win team the season prior to Shaq leaving went 34-48 the first year without him.  They were tied with the Golden State Warriors for last in the Pacific Division. 

The Heat were 19 games better, the Lakers 22 games worse.

After stripping their roster to acquire O'neal (a reason why many thought Miami couldn't compete that year), Miami was a blown 4th quarter away from their first ever trip to the NBA Finals.  Shaq was 1st Team All NBA, while Bryant landed on the 3rd team.

The following two seasons weren't any more kind to the Lakers.  They won 45 games in 2005-06 and 42 the next year. 

By the spring of 2006 Miami, rode Shaq (now in his 13th year in the league) and Wade to their first title.  It took only two years for the Heat to transform from a 42-win team to a champion.

While they were back in the playoffs by 2006, Kobe's Lakers lost a first round game 7 by 31 points to the Phoenix Suns.  In a game that Kobe told reporters his teammates "were a little nervous about," Marc Stein said Kobe's second half "looked suspiciously like surrendor" as he attempted only three shots in the closing half, deferring to those same teammates.  He had one point in the second half and one assist for the game.

Things evened out a bit in the 2006-07 season.  Miami, still featuring Wade and a deteriorating Shaq, won only 44 games, while the Lakers won 42 as Kobe led the league in scoring and made 1st Team All NBA. 

This year also marked the real deterioration in O'neal's game, not a surprise for a 350 pound center playing in his 15th NBA season.  While 17 and 7 were respectable numbers for most centers, Shaq was slowed by injury and limited to only 40 games of the season.  Not coincidentally, the Heat's run as a title contender ended.

Need a glimpse of how impactful Shaq was during his prime?  Both Wade and Bryant were among the top five players in the game in their first three years post-Shaq and neither sniffed a title without him.  In fact, both Miami and LA were .500 teams at best without him.  At worst, they did not make the playoffs.

At the end of his career, Kobe Bryant may be the all time leading scorer in NBA history.  He may win a 6th title to match MJ, but to overlook the dominance of O'neal and what this dominance means for Kobe Bryant's legacy would be a mistake by pundits, fans, and Kobe himself. 

I know class is a thing of the past in today's NBA, but unfortunately it looks as though perspective is as well.  Kobe may have one more than Shaquille now, but without him dominating as he did during their three Finals runs together, he would be four shy of MJ and in a different discussion in the historical context of the NBA.

Adam Finkelstein on Chris Driscoll

When Chris Driscoll's name starting popping up late last week as a potential replacement for Pat Skerry many in Providence circles wanted to learn more about the man who could possibly fill such a critical role on this staff.

While PC fans got a sense of who Driscoll was from a limited number of articles online, we still didn't know much beyond his role at BABC.  Looking to get more information on Driscoll, I reached out to Adam Finkelstein. 

Adam, of course, is the owner and general manager of New England Basketball Services. He serves as the editor of the New England Recruiting Report, coordinating their exposure events, and directing their instructional program. Currently, Adam also serves as a regular contributor to ESPN's Scouts Inc, is a nominator for the McDonald's All-American game, and a recruiting analyst for Cox Sports New England.

Adam's experiences in the game include stints on the high school, college, and professional levels. Most recently he has served as the head basketball coach at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, CT. Prior to that, he was an assistant basketball coach at the University of Hartford and Western Connecticut State University where he helped develop three players who went on to play professionally, and won a total of three championships. Adam has also spent time working as a scout for Marty Blake.

Simply put, there is no more respected mind on New England recruiting than Adam.  I figured he would be the perfect person to get more information on Chris from, and he was.

Below is my Q&A with Adam on Chris Driscoll:

KF: Many Providence fans are just starting to learn about Chris Driscoll. What are his greatest strengths as a coach and what is his reputation in New England recruiting circles? How do you see this translating at Providence if he were to end up here?

AF: Obviously, Chris brings an immediate pipeline to the BABC program, but also to the entire Nike EYBL (Elite Youth Basketball League). BABC has been the only Nike sponsored team in New England for quite a long time and that has put them in elite company around the country with close ties to programs like Boo Williams, New York Gauchos, New Jersey Playaz, and many others.

The BABC program alone has a ton of young talent coming up through the ranks right now. Beyond recruiting, Chris' experience on the BABC will also be of tremendous value to him.


KF: What are his main responsibilities as assistant coach and General Manager of BABC?

AF: I think that's a question best answered by him, but off the floor there is obviously quite a lot of organization that goes into planning a national schedule and putting together a team capable of succeeding at that level. On the floor it certainly seems as if he has a hand in player development as well as developing and executing game plans.


KF: BABC has been on a tremendous run of late and they are doing it with defense, an area where Providence struggled a year ago. Is it safe to assume the defensive side of the ball is a strength of his?

AF: I think one of the reasons why BABC has had so much success over the years, beyond their obvious talent level, is that they have a definite system.

BABC head coach Leo Papile explained his strategy to me this weekend at the Rumble in the Bronx. He said that their goal was to play 60% to 70% of the game from foul line to foul line, comparing his team to a football team trying to control the line of scrimmage.

Many teams simply concede that area of the floor, but by focusing on it BABC's goal is to force the other team into three times the number of turnovers that they typically committ, often starting out in three-quarter court pressure and then falling back to a half-court trap.

The defensive numbers that BABC has put up this year have been staggering, especially in the Nike EYBL. I think a lot of people will be quick to assume that Chris will only be able to contribute in recruiting, but he joins a long line of coaches who have learned under Papile and gone on to be great college basketball strategists and coaches from guys like Mike Jarvis to Tim O'Shea to Karl Hobbs.


KF: Pat Skerry was a force on the New England recruiting scene for PC and was making some great inroads before he left for Pittsburgh. Do you think Chris could have a similar impact? What message would this hire send across New England?

AF: Landing Gerard Coleman was a coup for Providence, no doubt about it. But Coleman came from the BABC program so really Driscoll's presence should only give Providence a bigger advantage when it comes to that particular program, who has talent stockpiled in the classes of 2012 and 2013.


KF: With the competitive nature of AAU basketball, some in Providence circles are wondering what sort of impact hiring a BABC coach could have on kids playing for programs like the New England Playaz, Mass Rivals, or Expressions Elite. How do you see this potential hire impacting kids from those programs?

AF: I think it will be easier to recruit some programs than others, but that's no different than any other college program. Recruiting comes down to relationships and no one in college coaching has a better relationship with BABC then Chris, but BABC is a well respected program within the region so I don't think he'll have any problems recruiting "non BABC kids" from the area.


KF: Providence landed a verbal from Naadir Tharpe and Khem Birch had been quoted in certain publications saying the Friars were his leader this spring. After  Skerry left Tharpe decommitted and Birch has backed off those statements since then. Do you think landing Driscoll could have an immediate impact in helping PC get back into the good graces of some of the top players in New England?

AF: Tharpe's recruiting stock has really taken off this spring. Providence did a great job of getting Tharpe committed when they did, but at the time they were really only going against Boston College and UNLV. That's not the case anymore because the kid has at least a dozen high major offers right now. Birch is in a similar situation in that he has really established himself as one of the top big men in 2012 this spring and consequently brought in a ton more recruitment. Providence will be fighting an up hill battle with these guys not because of who is on staff but because of the sheer timing.


KF: Aside from Nerlins Noel, who PC fans are familiar with, what other BABC players should we keep an eye on?

AF: There are quite a few including, Domonique Bull, Jake Layman, Shaquille Jones, Goodluck Okonoboh, Wayne Selden, Rene Castro, and more.

KF: Thanks again, Adam, for providing your insight.  For more from Adam check out: http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/

Next Friar win must be on the court

Is it safe to write this column yet? It’s the one where we put a wrap on an ugly spring in Providence with the decommitments of two players who were supposed to help rebuild a program that hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game in 13 years.

On Wednesday the top point guard in New England reopened his recruitment and on Thursday an All American who already signed on the dotted line asked for his release.

This has been a shocking and painful tease of a spring for Providence fans. A tease because just over two months ago Friartown was buzzing with talk of Keno Davis sending a message in landing his latest recruiting jewel in Naadir Tharpe. Davis and his staff sent a loud notice to the rest of the Big East and among recruiting circles in New England: Providence was on the rise and ready to build around perhaps the top two guards in New England’s 2010 and 2011 classes. It was a message Friar fans had longed to hear. Many of those fans were quick to forget a 19 loss season upon hearing the news of Tharpe’s commitment. The buzz was back in Friartown. It is amazing how quickly the mood of a fanbase can change.

The pain comes from being so close to turning that long-awaited corner. With visions of Tharpe learning under all-freshman guard Vincent Council, the Friars looked to have the depth in the backcourt they had been lacking for over a decade. Council was a proven commodity, forcing his way into the starting lineup early in year one and at times looking like the best player on the roster.

Surrounding Council with Scout’s 35th ranked player nationally (Coleman) and ESPN and Parade All American Joseph Young, 2010-11 would be the first step in establishing a new era in Providence College basketball. Adding the ultra-talented Tharpe to the mix was going to push this group to the next level, one in which they wouldn’t be entering games against the likes of Louisville, Connecticut, or Villanova in a personnel-mismatch. Say what you will about Keno Davis’ first two seasons in Providence, but rarely did he coach the team with the most talent on the floor once the conference schedule began. Soon enough this team wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the talent in the Big East.

The shock comes from how rapidly the bad news came. Johnnie Lacy and James Still embarrassed the college and not long after Greedy Peterson was sent packing as well. Just a few weeks later, recruiting ace Pat Skerry was off to Pittsburgh, and seemingly within hours Tharpe and Young jumped ship as well.

It is amazing how quickly the mood of a fanbase can change indeed.

There are huge sales jobs to be done in the upcoming weeks for Coach Davis. He has to sell this program to a top recruiter, to recruits, and perhaps most importantly, to the fanbase. While no one can blame Skerry for taking the Pitt job or Tharpe for opening up his recruitment, this recent string of events has not only been a blow to the fortunes of Providence, but the pride of its fanbase. It looked like that pride was on the verge of being restored with all of the talent on the way and now it is being hit harder than ever.

Keno Davis is facing the biggest challenge of his coaching career and there is little that can happen this summer that will erase the fallout of this spring, which is ironic because Providence seemed to be getting its most impressive victories on the recruiting trail of late. The program that looked like it would be able to compete with top tier Big East level teams from a talent standpoint must win next year by outcoaching and playing with greater effort than their opponents.

This is why this staff’s next big statement has to come on the court. It is hard to fathom what could happen between now and November that could negate the impact of this spring, but a surprisingly successful 2010-11 season will go a long way towards erasing the memory of it.

Davis faces a significant challenge with a young team, one that may have just lost what looked to be a key contributor for next year. At this point it is difficult to imagine anything happening between now and November that will turn the tide off the court, but as a competitor he must be dying for the 2010-11 season to begin to start reshaping the face of Providence basketball on it. Next season is more than your typical rebuilding year for Providence, it is an opportunity to rebuild the image of the program.

November is a long way away, but it can’t get here fast enough for Keno Davis. It has been a long offseason which will be followed by a fascinating regular season.

Patience a Virtue in Friartown

March 4, 1998.  I was a 19 year old freshman at Providence who missed the Friars Elite Eight run by a year, but made the trip to Madison Square Garden to see a young Friar team, led by Jamel Thomas, in the Big East Tournament.

Thomas was excellent in an opening round win over Pat Garrity and Notre Dame in an 11am start.  The next day's loss to eventual National Champion Connecticut was a tough one to swallow, but the Friars played well against a team that entered play 26-4 on the season (a two point game with 2:30 to play).  It was a clear rebuilding year with Thomas and freshman Erron Maxey manning the paint for an undersized Friar team, but better days were soon to follow.  I just watched this team make an Elite Eight run and win the Big East Tournament during my high school years and it was just a matter of time before they did something similar in my four years at PC. 

June, 1, 2010.  My four years at Providence have long since passed (sadly) and that run never came.  Now 13 years after stepping foot on campus I'm still waiting for my first NCAA tournament win.  Since Jamel and Justin Farley led PC to that early morning win over the Irish in 1998 Providence has won two games in the Big East Tournament: a blowout win in 2003 over West Virginia by a red hot Friar team and a harder-than-it-needed-to-be victory over winless DePaul in the first round of 2009's tourney. 

Providence is currently recruiting kids who were in diapers when the Friars upset Duke in '97.  Literally.  They are 2-12 in their last 14 Big East Tournament appearances.

For all of the talk about Providence being a difficult place to coach and the fans of PC having unrealistic expectations, the Dunk is never empty during Big East games. 

With everything that has taken place over the past two months, Providence fans will be back again next year and if the young Friars show promise, the die hards will look towards the future, not this past spring.

The die hards will always show.  The problem is, the Providence College class of 2010 will be the tenth class in a row to graduate from PC without experiencing a tournament win.  Nearly half of those classes have not experienced a tournament appearance.

Thirteen years removed from their last tournament run, there is an entire generation of Rhodes Island kids who don't know what a second round PC tournament team looks like.  How many Rhode Island kids under 20 can remember 1997?

This is not an article about an aging Friar fanbase, but rather, a patient one that is often miscast as one with unreasonable expectations. 

This city is electric when the Friars are in contention.  When the patience of PC fans meets realized expectations the result is a complete mad house.  The Dunk came alive in the upset of #1 Pittsburgh in 2009, but there is a different vibe when Providence fans know entering the building they are a Big East contender.  The crowd doesn't get progressively louder, rather the place buzzes from the start and carries the Friars like they did against Texas in 2004.

It is games like that which show of the best of Providence's basketball program.  There are unrealistic pockets of fans in any fanbase, but in order to grow the fanbase further PC needs to leave graduates with memories of significant wins and young kids with memories of growing up going to the mad house that the Dunk can become. 

Your die hards will remember the details of a loss to UConn in the Big East Tournament 12 years ago.  They'll sit tight through the difficult times, follow recruiting closely, and fill the Dunk no matter what the product is on the court, but there is another faction of PC fans that are there for the taking as well. 

Unless Providence gets surprising seasons from a cast of freshmen next year, then the fringe fans will view this as a similar season in Friartown as the past five or six.  The die hards will see progression in Vincent Council and potential in Gerard Coleman and ready themselves for a more optimistic future. 

The die hards who fill the Dunk now will always be there, but it's time to create a new generation of die hard Providence basketball fans.  A few more moments like this won't hurt.




For those of you interested in taking a trip down memory lane, here are highlights from Dave Gavitt's 1976 Friars at the Dunk versus Louisville.  Not sure which is better, the Louisville male cheerleaders' back peddle dance or PC's warmup pants.

I also found an undefeated 1965 Friar squad taking on Villanova.