The Providence Friars are Big East basketball in its purest form: tough, Catholic, and utterly unafraid. The program's twin peaks came in the 1970s and 1980s — the 1973 Final Four team led by Ernie DiGregorio and Marvin Barnes, one of the most beloved teams in school history, and the 1987 Final Four squad, when Rick Pitino's pressing, three-happy Friars rode Billy Donovan all the way to New Orleans.
The 1987 run remains the program's north star: a sixth seed that caught fire in March, playing a revolutionary style built around the then-new three-point line. Donovan — who would go on to win back-to-back national titles as Florida's coach — became a Providence immortal that spring.
The Friars added more magic in 1997, when God Shammgod's crossover and Austin Croshere's scoring carried Providence to the Elite Eight, and again in 2022, when Ed Cooley's gritty team reached the Sweet 16. The Amica Mutual Pavilion in downtown Providence shakes like few buildings in the sport when the Friars are rolling.
Providence's identity is the Big East's soul: no football money, no massive enrollment — just basketball tradition, a rabid fan base, and a program that treats every conference game like a holy war.
What defines the Friars is the two Final Fours and the Big East grit. Ernie D., Billy the Kid, Shammgod's crossover — and a program that always believes. In Providence, Friar basketball isn't just a team; it's a religion.
Ernie DiGregorio's 1973 brilliance made him a Providence immortal: 'Ernie D.' — the dazzling point guard — carried the Friars to the Final Four with Marvin Barnes. The 1973 team remains the most beloved in school history.
Rick Pitino's 1987 miracle was the program's modern peak: the sixth-seeded Friars — pressing, three-happy, revolutionary — rode Billy Donovan to the Final Four. The run made Pitino a legend and Providence a national story.
God Shammgod's 1997 crossover is the program's signature move: the playground legend's handles carried the Friars to the Elite Eight — Austin Croshere's brilliance alongside. The 1997 team was must-watch.
The Amica Mutual Pavilion's downtown Providence stage gives the program one of the Big East's great homes: when the Friars are rolling, the building shakes. In the Big East's wars, Providence plays the soul of the league — tough, Catholic, unafraid.
The reset became unavoidable last March. Kim English's three-year tenure ended March 13, 2026 — fired after a 15-18 season (7-13 Big East) that never found traction. Providence missed the NCAA Tournament in all three of English's seasons: 21-14 and an NIT first-round trip in year one, a program-record 12-20 in 2024-25, and another losing campaign last winter. Late-game collapses, recurring defensive breakdowns, portal misses and injuries — after Ed Cooley's 2023 departure for Georgetown, the Friars had lost their way. English finished 48-52 in Providence.
The rescue arrived from Tampa. On March 22, 2026, Providence hired Bryan Hodgson, the 37-year-old former South Florida head coach who has done nothing but win. In his lone season with the Bulls, Hodgson went 25-9, swept the American Conference regular-season and tournament championships — the program's first tournament title — and took USF to its first NCAA Tournament since 2012, falling 83-79 to Louisville in the Round of 64. At Arkansas State, he inherited a team that had lost 20 games and produced back-to-back 20-win seasons, capped by a school-record 25-11 in 2024-25, the Sun Belt regular-season crown and the Red Wolves' first NIT trip in more than 30 years. Career head-coaching record: 70-37.
Hodgson's basketball comes from the Nate Oats tree: assistant at Buffalo (2015-19) and Alabama (2019-23), where he ranked among the nation's elite recruiters and helped land top-15 classes featuring future NBA stars like Brandon Miller. His teams play up-tempo and efficient — shoot the three, crash the offensive glass, score in waves. His lone USF squad ranked sixth nationally at 86.8 points per game. At his Alumni Hall introduction, Hodgson promised exactly what Friartown needed to hear: "We will be tough, disciplined, and relentless in our pursuit of excellence." The 2026-27 campaign is the 100th year of Providence College men's basketball — and a brand-new chapter.
The roster he inherited has a heartbeat. Veteran guard Jason Edwards averaged 16.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists last season, landed on the preseason All-Big East second team and the Jerry West Award watch list, and hung 32 points on Butler in a double-overtime loss on December 13. A foot injury cost him seven straight games and the Big East Tournament — his health is the season's biggest variable. Around him: redshirt senior Corey Floyd Jr., who arrived from UConn; senior Cole Hargrove, a 6-8 Drexel transfer; graduate forward Duncan Powell from Georgia Tech; sophomore center Oswin Erhunmwunse, the 6-10 Nigerian rim protector; sophomores Daquan Davis and Ryan Mela; and a freshman class headlined by guard Jaylen Harrell and 7-foot Latvian Peteris Pinnis.
The league picture gives Hodgson room to climb. Providence was picked fifth in the Big East's preseason projections — behind the usual powers but squarely in the tournament conversation, a remarkable expectation for a first-year coach returning just 12.6 percent of his minutes. The conference slate is a gauntlet: a rare three-game February homestand against Marquette, DePaul and Villanova, a road date at Seton Hall, a home game with Georgetown and Ed Cooley — still looking for his footing at 16-44 in league play — and a regular-season finale at home against Creighton on March 6, the first Providence visit for new Bluejay coach Alan Huss.
The building will be ready. The Amica Mutual Pavilion has been the soul of this program through every peak — the 1973 Final Four, Pitino's 1987 miracle, the Shammgod years — and Friartown has always believed this program belongs in March. Hodgson's entire head-coaching career is a string of one-and-two-season turnarounds. At Providence the resources are bigger, the stage is bigger, and the standard is the same: the NCAA Tournament. In Providence, Friar basketball isn't just a team; it's a religion. Now it has a preacher who knows how to win.
