By SEAN BRENNAN
Special to BIGEAST.com
Last year was a magical one for Ed Cooley and his Providence Friars.
There was the Friars’ first-ever BIG EAST regular-season championship, a trip to the Sweet 16 for the first time in a quarter of a century and a 13-week run in the AP Top 25 rankings which culminated with a No. 13 final ranking. It was the kind of year that should have earned Cooley free dinners at some of Providence’s finer dining establishments.
But as he set his sights on an encore performance in the 2022-23 season, Cooley couldn’t help but stress out over the fact that all five starters from that stellar 2021-22 team - Nate Watson, Noah Horchler, Al Durham, Justin Minaya and A.J. Reeves - were no longer around.
But instead of popping Prilosecs to combat his agita, Cooley went to work retooling his Friars. But that’s not to say there weren’t copious amounts of anxious moments leading into this season.
“Obviously there were major concerns,” Cooley said. “When you lose, first and foremost, a veteran group that had an “It” factor, that had a “Wow” factor, that had a physical factor, that had a mental toughness factor, there were a lot of concerns. I think we returned only 17 or 18 points from last year’s group so there were a lot of concerns.”
So Cooley, who said “I like chemistry” (though it is not certain he took any chemistry courses during his Stonehill College days) went about finding the perfect additions to his stable. When he was done with the retooling, Cooley had brought Bryce Hopkins (formerly of Kentucky), Devin Carter (South Carolina) and Noah Locke (Louisville) into the Friars’ fold. And judging by Providence’s start to the season, Cooley has to be given an ‘A’ in chemistry.
“I thought we added some pieces that fit the way we wanted to play, that had the makeup and style that we wanted to play,” Cooley said. But he was also quick to point out that Providence’s Mad Chemist had lots of help putting this year’s team together.
“I like chemistry and honestly a lot of people were giving Ed Cooley credit,” Cooley said. “But the credit is to the staff. I think a lot of people are missing the boat on what we’re doing here as a staff between (assistant coaches) Jeff Battle, Brian Blaney and Ivan Thomas. And then you have Kevin Kurbec and you add in LaDontae (Henton) and Kyron (Cartwright).That’s a lot of togetherness right there and a lot of synergy and chemistry.”
A few numbers to back up that claim. First, 41. That’s the total number of wins the Friars have in their last 50 games dating back to last season. Second, 21. The number of victories in BIG EAST Conference play over the Friars’ last 25 games. Third, 26. The number of home wins in Providence’s last 27 home contests. And finally, 19. That’s where the Friars currently sit in the AP Top 25 rankings.
For the 14-3 Friars, it seems a lifetime ago since they began the season 3-2. A slow start brought on, in no small part, to developing that cohesiveness that took time to build.
“Our concern was the chemistry, continuity and synergy which is why we didn’t look the way we look now (early on),” Cooley said. “Everybody was new and they were learning and growing into the way we needed them to.”
The trio of Hopkins, Carter and Locke have been invaluable additions for the Friars this season. Hopkins leads the team in both scoring (16.0 ppg.) and rebounding (9.1 rpg.). Carter is second on the team in scoring at 13.2 points per outing while Locke is the team-leader in three-pointers with 35 treys.
So what did Cooley see in his three newbies that thought they’d be a good fit for his program?
“Just their skill set. Take Hopkins, he’s a versatile player who can score at every level, can move, can handle, can rebound, can pass,” Cooley said. “Locke can shoot and that’s what we brought him here for and to give us some veteran leadership. And Carter is one of the toughest kids in the country on the defensive end and is really emerging as an offensive threat.”
Cooley said he was not concerned about any hard feelings or tension brewing between the new players and holdovers like Ed Croswell, Jared Bynum or Alyn Breed because he has one simple rule as to who sees playing time on the court.
“There’s going to be new pieces that come in every year and that’s where the word ”culture” comes in,” Cooley said. “You have to have such a culture that it’s not about “you.” There may be some anxiety by players saying, ‘Oh, he plays my position,” but at the end of the day I’m playing the best players. We tell the players that all the time. You can’t play everybody on scholarship so what are you doing to deserve, earn and produce. If you can do those things, then you’re going to find yourself playing. If not, get better. It’s pretty simple.”
Croswell, like Cooley, said there was some apprehension coming into the season in light of who the Friars saw graduate. But it wasn’t long before he saw the pieces were once again in place for perhaps another magical season in Providence.
“Obviously we were losing a bunch of key pieces like Nate Watson, Al Durham and Justin Minaya so we were wondering where the production was going to come from,” said Croswell, the Friars’ 6-9 senior. “But over time I realized the pieces that we had were great like Bryce Hopkins, who’s undeniably good, and Devin Carter, who is just a dog. And I also feel like I’ve stepped up with a bigger role and become a leader.”
And a big part of that leadership came from Croswell welcoming the new players with open arms.
“We all try to bond as quickly as possible,” said Croswell, who is third on the team in scoring at 12.8 points a game. “In the summer we always hung out and tried to do everything together and I feel like that made the transition easier for the new players to get comfortable. And I feel like we did a good job with Bryce, Dev and Noah so they could be effective for us.”
And Croswelll said that chemistry, that togetherness, has only continued to flourish as the season has gone on.
“Early in the year we had our ups and downs but coming together like we did in December when we didn’t lose a game (the Friars went 6-0 in the month), we really grew up with each other and started relying on each other,” Croswell said. “And it’s exciting to see who is going to have a good game every night. We all relish each other’s success. So it’s very exciting to see Bryce Hopkins go off and have great games. It’s exciting to see Devin Carter go off. It’s exciting to see Jared Bynum have a great game. It’s a good feeling to win and when you do it it’s just contagious.”
Is it also exciting when Ed Croswell goes off?
“Oh, yeah it is. It is,” Croswell said laughing.
All that togetherness, all that “going off” has the Friars on a nine-game winning streak and tied with No. 12 Xavier atop the standings in the BIG EAST at 6-0. And that No. 19 national ranking feels pretty good up there in the Ocean State.
“The players are excited about it. It’s something where you want to be ranked at the end not at the beginning but along the way the players want to be recognized for the hard work and effort that they’re putting in,” Cooley said. “But knowing that we’re not even at the halfway point of the BIG EAST season, we still have a ways to go to become the team we want to become. But I feel we’ve been doing the right things along the way to become the team we are today.”
After a week off the Friars get right back at it with a pair of brutal road games at Creighton and Marquette beginning Saturday in Omaha.
“Creighton was the preseason favorite and they went through (a time) where (Ryan) Kalkbrenner had (mononucleosis),” Cooley said. “But they still have one of the best starting fives in college basketball (and) they have one of the best offensive minds in college basketball in (head coach) Greg McDermott. Then you look at Marquette, who was picked ninth in our league, and the job (Golden Eagles’ coach) Shaka (Smart) and his staff have done and the emergence of (Ose) Ighodaro. There are no easy nights in the BIG EAST.
After their time off, Croswell said the Creighton and Marquette games provide more opportunities for Providence to keep building another successful season.
“Honestly I think this break was well deserved,” Croswell said. “But we have to keep that same mentality that we’ve had. These two road games are going to be a dog fight. We have to come away [with] Ws. It’s a must-win situation to keep our status and prove to everybody how good the Friars actually are.”