Providence Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for Friars

Throughout time, Providence basketball is one of those programs that doesn’t seem like a power in college basketball, but the Friars have had their moment in the spotlight. The program has made a couple of Final Fours, though the most recent one was led by Rick Pitino way back in 1987. Their recent run of success since becoming members of the new Big East hasn’t been as impressive on the national scale, but coach Ed Cooley did recently lead the Friars to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

Cooley enters his eleventh season with the Friars and he knows how difficult it is to sustain this kind of success. In a Big East dominated in recent years by Villanova, he leads a Providence squad surrounded by talented teams, each waiting their moment in the sun. Last season was a step backward for the Friars, with a meager 13-13 finish, their worst since 2012, Cooley’s first year at the helm. Providence only played six nonconference games last season and really struggled to get things going in Big East play.

Leading scorer David Duke is gone, but much of the rest of last year’s talent returns for this upcoming year, with Providence certainly the beneficiary of that extra year granted to players because of the national pandemic. A few surprising faces will be back on campus for one last hoorah, but there will also be an intriguing mix of new faces as well. Cooley has work ahead to figure out these rotations and how everything will work together, but it’s clear that he and the Friars want to take a step forward again.

Simply put, Cooley has reenergized this program, and the recent results show it. Prior to last season’s .500 mark, the Friars had finished top 4 in the league in six of the last seven seasons, including those five straight NCAA Tournament seasons. Had the 2020 Tournament not been canceled, it certainly could’ve been Cooley’s sixth trip with the program. With programs like Connecticut, Seton Hall, and Xavier also on the rise, it’ll be tough for Providence to push themselves back into the conversation at the top of the league, even with all the talent on this team, but that doesn’t mean their goose is cooked.

The season hasn’t begun and the story of these Friars hasn’t been written yet. Few likely expected how far this program has come under Cooley, certainly not after predecessors like Tim Welsh and Keno Davis flailed with the Friars. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s get into the roster and pick at who exactly will be making the shots and causing damage for Providence this year.