Big East Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

Projected Starters:

Guards – Jared Bynum- SO*, David Duke-JR and AJ Reeves-JR

Forwards – Greg Gantt-SO and Nate Watson-SR

Bench – Noah Horchler-SR*, Alan Breed-FR, Jyare Davis-FR, Kris Monroe-JR, Jimmy Nichols-JR, Brycen Goodine-SO*, Ed Crosswell-JR*

Ed Cooley has the Friars rolling. Yes, the pandemic broke up the momentum that Providence had established after winning their last six games of the season and going 12-6 in the Big East, despite a dreadful start to last season. Do they bring back all the right guys that will make this team a force in the Big East and keep the good trends going? Also, yes.

Alpha Diallo was a good player, but in his four seasons, much of them as the leader, Providence always had a bottom tier Big East offense. He never developed a reliable 3-point shot demonstrated by his 29% career percentage, and in his last two seasons in Friar-town averaged nearly 110 3-point shots per season, the most of anyone shooting below 30%. Due to his physical style of play, he also shot by far the most free throws of anyone in a Providence jersey his final two seasons. In neither season did he shoot better than 68%.

There was something missing there but heading into Cooley’s 10th season at the helm, Providence might have the most balanced roster he’s coached.

It’s been two seasons since Cooley was able to coach a true point, and there was clearly a lack of leadership in key moments in the last couple of seasons. Enter Jared Bynum (11.3 Pts, 3.6 Reb, 4.5 Ast at St. Joseph’s), who as a freshman finished 5th in the Atlantic 10 in assists, but also displayed extreme durability that a 5’11 point guard needs to play in the Big East. He averaged 36 minutes a game.

Bynum’s eligibility comes at the perfect time as junior guards and former top-50 prospects David Duke (12.0 Pts, 4.2 Reb, 3.1 Ast) and AJ Reeves (7.4 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 1.2 Ast) come back for their third seasons in black and white. To this point in their careers neither have played with a true pass-first point guard which has really limited what either can do.

Reeves should benefit the most from the Bynum transfer. He was known as a knockdown 3-point shooter coming out of Roxbury, MA, but has only shot 36% thus far in his Providence career from downtown. Reeves will get better looks with Bynum running the offense.

Duke is a stud and known as an absolute workhorse. He improved his scoring from 7 to 12 points between his freshman and sophomore years and became a 42% 3-point shooter as a sophomore after shooting below 30% as a freshman. He will be in the 1st-Team All-Big East conversation.

The backcourt could get even better if Syracuse transfer Brycen Goodine is granted immediate eligibility, something that should happen considering Alan Griffin his replacement for the Orange was granted a waiver after transferring from Illinois. Goodine, the 91st ranked player in the 2019 freshman class only got 9 minutes a game as a rooking in Jim Boeheim’s system but was a guy Cooley has had his eye on for a while. Goodine played high school ball in nearby Barrington, RI.

The Friars frontcourt has a very high ceiling as well and the freshman to sophomore leap for Greg Gantt (2.6 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 0.3 Ast) will really determine how good Providence can be in 2020-21. Gantt was the 67th best freshman in the country heading into last season according to 247 sports and since enrolling has grown an inch, now 6’8, and gained about 20 pounds.

Those metrics make him a dangerous Big East power forward as he is capable of playing both in the post and on the perimeter. What kept him off the floor in 2019-20 was his propensity to turn the ball over, owning a 23% turnover percentage, meaning per 100 possessions he coughed it up over 23% of the time. That will have to improve.

Joining Gantt on the block will be Nate Watson (9.0 Pts, 4.6 Reb, 0.5 Ast). The 6’11 center took a step back from his sophomore season where he put up 11.7 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 0.4 Ast, which was second to Diallo in both points and rebounds. Gantt and Watson entered last season with high expectations, and both were a bit of a disappointment, but Providence still went 12-6 in Big East play. That’s the high ceiling I am talking about.

There is depth in the Providence frontcourt, too. Noah Horchler, a transfer from North Florida will help Watson and Duke in the backcourt a great deal, especially on the boards. Horchler led the Atlantic Sun in rebounding in 2018-19 but also shot nearly 60% on 2-point field goals in his sophomore season where he scored 16 points per game.

Freshman Jyare Davis is expected to see minutes behind Gantt, Watson, and Horchler after being named the Delaware Gatorade Player of the year in his senior high school season in 19-20. To boot, there is another high profile transfer on Federal Hill just waiting for a waiver… Ed Croswell from LaSalle is coming off a sophomore campaign where he put up 10 points and seven rebounds per game. The ceiling is getting higher.

Jimmy Nichols (2.2 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 0.4 Ast) and Kris Monroe (1.3 Pts, 1.5 Reb, 0.2 Ast) add size and depth and proved valuable in spot minutes last season. They’ll have an opportunity to get more than the 12 and 8 minutes per game the two saw respectively in 19-20 because neither will have to learn the Providence system like many of the newcomers.

Providence is not a sexy pick, but Ed Cooley has built a model of consistency in New England. Top-notch recruits and sought-after transfers are starting to choose Cooley and come to Friar-town and that says a lot about the coach. Since 2012 Providence has never won less than 18 games. Three of the four seasons before Cooley returned to his alma mater, the Friars finished below .500.

Basketball has been good for a while in Providence, Rhode Island, but with what Cooley has built heading into his 10th season, 2020-21 might be the first time the rest of the nation notices. There is a prospective Big East Champion in America’s Renaissance City.