Last year, before the basketball season even tipped off, coach Ed Cooley was asked about his team. What he expected of it and what he thought they might accomplish.
He had no clue.
But then he watched as his Friars posted 20 wins and reached the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season, the first time that feat was accomplished in the storied Providence basketball history.
This time around, however, Cooley seems a little bit more at ease with his team. Well, most of it anyway. So what’s the difference with this year’s version of the Friars?
“We have some leadership, we have some veterans who have played in some tough games with (Kyron) Cartwright, (Rodney) Bullock, (Jalen) Lindsey and (Emmitt) Holt. Those guys are our leaders. They’re doing a better job trying to teach the younger guys.”
Yes, this year the Friars are loaded with veterans and it’s that sense of security, that continuity that allows Cooley to sleep better at night.
“As a head coach this is the most veteran group I’ve ever coached,” said Cooley, now in his seventh season as the Providence headmaster. “It’s great to have depth, it’s great to have accountability so we’ll see what the results are. I still think we have a long way to go, especially defensively. I just like the fact that they’ve been through the drills, they’ve been through pregame routine, they understand what it is to compete and hopefully their leadership can trickle down to the younger guys. I’m excited to have a veteran group. I just hope it translates into wins.”
Any wins that come the Friars way this season will come mainly due to the exploits of Cartwright and Bullock. The senior duo was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team after campaigns that saw Bullock average a team-best 15.7 points per game and Cartwright add 11.4 points with a conference-leading 6.7 assists last year.
Cooley, you may have guessed, is a big backer of his veteran point guard.
“I think Kyron is better than he thinks,” Cooley said. “I want him to think he’s the best player on the floor every time he’s on the floor. I think his speed is unmatched to anyone in the country. He’s very unselfish and we’ll go as far as he and Rodney (Bullock) take us. I want him to be the best point guard in the country. I hear about all these other point guards but last time I checked he led the league in assists. He’s the most unselfish player in the country and I expect him to be that player again this year.”
While it’s a given what he can expect from Bullock and Cartwright, as well as Lindsey and Holt, who each averaged in double figures last season with 10.1 and 12.5 points per game, respectively, one area Cooley would like to see some improvement before the season tips is on the defensive end of the floor.
“I think we have to become more stingy defensively,” Cooley said. “I think we need better shot selection to maximize the depth we’re going to have. But I think our strength is that we have a veteran group. They’ve been there and done it, now can they lead the younger guys because the younger guys are going to add value because we couldn’t guard the rim last year. Hopefully this year we can guard the rim.”
Ah yes, the younger guys. Cooley was asked what he liked about his four-member freshman class this season and he didn’t hesitate when he deadpanned, “Nothing.”
“Freshmen come in and they think they’re still in high school and they don’t go to practice and they don’t go to the weight room,” Cooley said. “I never get excited about freshmen, I wait for them to become sophomores. That’s the God’s honest truth. All freshmen are gross.”
Eventually Cooley did find some things he liked about his newbies, especially 6-9, 250-pound Nate Watson, 7-0 center Dajour Dickens and 6-2 guard Makai Ashton-Langford.
“I think all of them will play,” Cooley said. “I think they all have value but as I said, freshmen don’t know what they don’t know. We got to teach them. They got to learn to go to class, how to go to the weight room, how to be social. On the basketball court I think they are going to add to our depth. They’ll definitely add to our physicality in guarding the rim. I’m really, really excited about this freshman class.”
So just maybe they won’t be that gross after all.