With arguably the best point guard in the country, the Providence basketball team will rely heavily on Kris Dunn this season as their roster goes through a significant amount of turnover. Can Dunn’s skill and leadership lead the Friars back to the Big Dance? That’s the question.
Tv info:
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Wednesday, Nov. 18 |
Illinois at Providence |
6:00 PM |
FS1 & FOX Sports GO |
PROVIDENCE FRIARS
Last Season: 4th, 11-7 in Big East, 22-12 overall
Predicted Big East Finish: 6th
Projected Depth Chart:
F/C: Ben Bentil (So)/Quadree Smith (Fr)
F: Rodney Bullock (So)/Ryan Fazekas (Fr)
SG: Jalen Lindsey (So)/Drew Edwards (Fr)/Ricky Council II (Fr)
G: Junior Lomomba (Jr)/Kyron Cartwright (So)/
PG: Kris Dunn (Jr)
Gone: SF-LaDonate Henton, C-Carson Desrosiers, PF-Ted Bancroft, SF-Tyler Harris (transfer-Auburn), C-Paschel Chukwu (transfer-Syracuse)
Strengths:
With only five players returning from a year ago, Ed Cooley is thanking his lucky star that Kris Dunn chose to return to school rather than leaving for the NBA Draft where he certainly would have been a first round pick. His backcourt mates, Jalen Lindsey, Junior Lomomba, and Kyron Cartwright saw quality minutes a year ago but were not asked to do much offensively. How effective they can be in more significant roles is uncertain. Without a ton of experience on the roster, Dunn is going to pretty much shoulder the entire load for Providence.
Question Marks:
With three frontcourt players graduating and two others transferring, Providence has some major question marks inside. Ben Bentil slides over to the center spot after playing most of last season at power forward. Rodney Bullock is more of an athletic combo forward but should see the majority of his minutes at power forward. Since incoming freshman Alex Owens did not qualify, the Friars only have two other options in the frontcourt, Quadree Smith and Ryan Fazekas. At 285 pounds, Smith is a big body inside who will need to contribute off the bench from day one. Fazekas is a face-up forward who lacks much physicality but will have to play some power forward out of necessity.
Player to Watch:
15.6 points, 7.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.7 steals per game earned Dunn Big East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors. That is a pretty ridiculous stat line but what Dunn was able to produce last season as he finally lived up to his expectations after battling injury his first two years at Providence. He did turn it over quite a bit (4.2 per game) but with as often as the ball was in his hands, you can live with those mistakes. A surefire All-American candidate, his workload will only increase this season.
X-Factor:
Despite being in his third year at PC, Bullock has yet to play a single college game. He was suspended for the entire 2013-14 season and missed last year due to a knee injury. An inside/outside threat, Bullock is the Friar most likely to become second banana to Dunn as he demonstrated in the team’s exhibition game where he posted 26 points and 11 boards.
Looking Ahead to 2016-17:
Dunn’s heading to the league after this season but everyone else should return to the Friar roster. It will take a collective effort to replace him, but with a young roster that figures to take their lumps this season, plenty of talent returns.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/14 vs. Harvard
11/18 vs. Illinois
11/26 vs. Evansville (Wooden Legacy)
11/27 vs. Arizona/Santa Clara (Wooden Legacy)
11/29 vs. Michigan State/Boston College/Boise State/UC-Irvine (Wooden Legacy)
12/5 at Rhode Island
12/9 vs. Boston College
12/21 at UMass
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.