There’s unquestionably a new feel to Providence this season, and it’s understandable once you take a look at the roster. The Friars have seven newcomers, along with two players who redshirted last year. It’s a marked contrast to last season’s senior-laden team, but it will also be one more suited to play the way second-year head coach Keno Davis wants to play.
The roster is loaded with guards and wings, including the three core holdover players. Seniors Sharaud Curry and Brian McKenzie and junior Marshon Brooks all figure to start or play significant minutes. Curry is a steady point guard who looked more like himself once Big East play rolled around last season, while Brooks had some big games in a relatively inconsistent sophomore year that saw him go for 30 points in an early game and top 20 two more times, but score in single digits in each of the team’s final eight games. Brooks scored 54 points in the Friars’ two exhibition games and lacks only consistency to be an all-Big East player.
“When he’s on like that and being able to score, I want to put him in a position he’s the most comfortable with,” Davis said of Brooks.
Although a lot of attention will be on the young players and their impact on this team, McKenzie just might be the team’s X-factor. There’s no doubting his talent, as he averaged just under 11 points per game and shot over 40 percent from long range as a sophomore, but he slumped badly last season after Davis consistently said he was their best practice player early on. He scored in double digits just three times all season and generally couldn’t buy a bucket. The optimist will point out that one of those three games was their final game, a loss to Miami in the NIT where he scored 13 points and went 4-7 from long range.
“We had so many seniors and so many veterans on the team that kind of took his minutes away, so he wasn’t able to fight through some of his struggles out there,” Davis said of McKenzie. “I’m to blame for that, but I’ve got to make sure that what I’m doing is trying to win games. I felt that fighting through a struggling period right there wasn’t the best opportunity for us to win games. I think he knew, with those seniors gone, there’s pressure that’s not on him now, because he knows he’s going to play.”
Freshman Bilal Dixon and sophomore Jamine Peterson both redshirted last season, and both should impact this team instantly since the frontcourt lacks experience. Peterson already has a year of college experience, and he fits this team well as an active forward who can be a terror on the offensive glass. Dixon clearly used his redshirt year well, as he has a good body and runs the floor well. He should start right away and provide a boost on the glass, which is something he has done before.
“He brings energy,” Brooks said of Dixon. “He’s sort of like a John Kale, he’s going to be really good on the boards this year.”
The best of the true freshmen looks to be Vincent Council, at one time a travel teammate of Dixon. He’s capable of playing both guard spots, and Davis has said they will play two point guards often with Council being one of them most times. At times he will team with Curry and at others with Johnnie Lacy, a quick guard who might be more of a scorer than a floor leader and can put points on the board quickly.
“We’ve been playing two point guards out there,” Davis said. “I think Vincent Council and Johnnie (Lacy) give us another dimension that they haven’t seen here for a while – two guys that are lightning fast and they just get it and go. Now we’ve got to learn as our wings to run the court – we never really ran last year.”
Duke Mondy and junior college transfer Kyle Wright, who will also see time at small forward, are in the mix as well. Wright has some athleticism and also some Division I experience, as he started his career at Stony Brook before transferring to junior college.
In the frontcourt, James Still is the “potential” player among the freshmen. If they had more proven depth, he might be an ideal redshirt candidate, but for now he will be like a typical freshman in that he will make some plays that show he’s not there yet and some that clearly show his potential. Classmate Kadeem Batts has a good body but doesn’t have a clear role at the moment, while junior college transfer Russ Permenter could get some minutes and help on the glass.
With all the young players, Davis needs his veterans to be leaders. He said he hears Curry and McKenzie the most in the locker room as far as vocal leaders go. This season is sure to be a journey of discovery for the team as players begin to either pan out or they don’t, save for any injuries that might occur.
“Every day in practice there’s been a guy that stands out and has me saying, ‘Well, I didn’t see that the last couple of days,’ and they’re the new guys,” said Davis. “The veterans have been pretty consistent from a day-to-day basis. Everybody else, not so much.”
The non-conference schedule is still a challenge. The Friars open with three games in three days in the World Vision Invitational, and none of the opponents – Bryant, Bucknell and Mercer – will be pushovers. They later go to Alabama, CAA contender Northeastern, arch-rival Rhode Island and rebuilding George Washington, with home dates against Boston College and America East contender Vermont.
The Friars have some potential, but with all the youth a forecast for their season might be summed up in a simple way. They have the talent to win a few games they probably shouldn’t and the inexperience to lose a few games they probably shouldn’t as well.
