Mailbag Part 2: Putting the season in perspective, Slim's bounce back, and portal season

Photo courtesy of Carl Rizzo

How about Slim Castro? Breakout year at GW, 2nd team A-10 and constant praise from commentators for his high motor and mobility! And don’t sniff at A-10, they beat us 3 times and those weren’t even the best teams. GW even has him coming out high to set picks and trigger the offense. I thought he still had more to offer when he left and he and Oswin would have made a much better pair.

Dave

The previous staff had pretty high praise for Rafael Castro in the fall of his redshirt freshman year. For those who missed it, the former Friar crushed it this year at George Washington this season, averaging 14.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. This included a 22/16 game against La Salle, 21/15 versus Richmond, and 13 double doubles.

With plenty of room still to grow, freshman Rafael Castro is showing signs early at PC

Kim English’s staff never seemed very high on him, trying desperately to add a center to play behind Josh Oduro in their first spring here, even with Castro in the fold.

Hindsight is 20/20 and I didn’t flinch when he transferred last year. Providence was just so much worse when they went to Castro instead of Oduro, but maybe this should be a lesson learned before we’re so quick to turn the page on guys. Those old enough to remember Herb Hill certainly recall how he went from unplayable for a few years to an NBA draft pick after a breakout senior year. Big men take a while. Castro was a redshirt on the Sweet 16 team of 2022 and didn’t find his footing until three years later.

Hi Kevin,

Three Questions:

1. Is it just me but do you believe that Kim English is “on thin ice” next year?

I understand that he had way too many injuries that depleted his lineup but he and his staff’s recruits were not impressive. I was happy with Mela’s overall performance and Erhunmwunse’s improvement as the year progressed but the others not too much!

2. Which players will be entering the portal and who will be matriculating in Providence in September?

3. What are the chances that Hopkins returns? My number is less than 20%

Regards

Charles

It would have been hard to imagine at this time a year ago that this spring would be so huge for English, but it’s massive. He’s certainly aware of it.

While the portal hasn’t hit Providence hard the past two years under English, I’d be surprised if there isn’t a lot of change. The roster was crowded on the wings, and with two freshmen scheduled to come in, I can’t imagine every returnee is up for running it back under similar circumstances, even with some players graduating.

Kevin,

Need to look at things differently.

First, bet we had the most

• different starting line ups in Big East…should be able to measure that.

• most different 6th man in first in Beast…as players weren’t sure who was starting, likely didn’t know next in!

Point is some data that shows players didn’t know where they stand. Self confidence was not built. JP for example, just crumbled this season.

Kim’s “mindset” has to be addressed. He needs to conduct himself and coaches better. Can only imagine how the locker room was.

Betting there will be more surprises come on Monday, March 24. Christ will be told to leave. Think Bryce, JP and Corey are all out. Just hope the freshmen and recruits stay committed.

I was so high on Kim last season, as everyone was. He deserves another year, but really needs to provide his vision and leadership quickly.

Tom

Providence ended the season by playing 12 different starting lineups in 32 games. The one they played the most — Oswin/Floyd/Mela/Joseph/Pierre — started in six together, including the final three games of the year.

I thought Jayden Pierre looked both exhausted and like he’d lost his confidence over the last month of the year. By the end of January he was averaging 12.3 points on 35.4% shooting from three and 54.4% shooting inside the arc.

From Feb. 1 on, he shot 35.7% from two and 31.9% from three. The difference is stark:

Hey Kevin,

The season has ended, mercifully, thankfully. Though it was a challenging year, I do believe there is much cause to be optimistic for ‘25-26 (man, we’re getting old!). Of course, I’m encouraged by the play of Mela and Oswin as well as the incoming potential of Harrell & Jones, but several questions linger, so here goes…

• PG; Is the answer already on the team in Pierre and will he stay in Friartown? I know he’s now a pure PG, but will this be another “by committee” type of role similar to this year?

• SG; We need shot makers to open up spacing in this offense. Harrell has been lighting it up with CATS, but could use more than one option to spread out the defense. Thoughts?

• SF/PF; Arguably our deepest position “group” with Mela, Oswin (potentially being a 4 w/a transfer center) & Bryce returning (PLEASE GOD!). Do you see Oswin being a 4 with a proper 5 being added in the portal?

• C; What I wouldn’t do to have Oduro, Croswell or Watson back! Christ was a miss & Bonke is just too raw. Do we keep either and who do we bring in through the portal?

• Strength & conditioning; With multiple players starting the season (and continuing throughout) injured, strained or just plain OUT, what needs to change here?

• NIL/Portal; HUGELY important NIL period heading into ‘25-26, can’t have the misses at C and need to replace Jabri as well as potential pure PG. I feel the Center position is paramount here.

Thank you and Billy (please pass our thanks along) for all the work you do & content you create.

Chris

Chris, lots to unpack here, but I’ll tackle some of it. I don’t see Oswin playing much four, especially in English’s system. As great as he was this year, Oswin has a ways to go offensively, but should take off further with a good power forward next to him and a consistent center to spell him. PC has been spoiled with centers over the past decade or so with Nate Watson, Kalif Young, Ed Croswell, and Josh Oduro. Going back a bit further, Ben Bentil and Emmitt Holt were undersized, but terrific.

I’ll be interested to see what happens with Bonke. He needs reps to get better, but wasn’t nearly ready to get reps this year. In a world of individual workouts, he just needs to play in games all summer. He’s really athletic (watch him in warmups — so fluid and has some bounce) and apparently has a strong desire to improve, so I’m hoping he sticks with the program. Would love to see PC add a 4/5 type who can swing back and forth between the two positions, giving Bonke minutes as matchups dictate next year.

Jaylen Harrell had a very good season at CATS, one in which he was asked to do a lot — from scoring to creating and hitting the glass. He’s a real competitor. I’ll be interested to see how well he shoots it as a freshman.

Hi Kevin,

Re: Kim English Second season

Have very rarely put down thoughts after the season but I needed to vent a bit. Here are some random thoughts:

Coach English: Looked lost at times as a coach. Lack of good defense sealed this team’s fate early. I go back to non-league and the struggles they had. Non-League was preview of a horrible big east season but I was not ready to count them out once the season began. I could sense the problems with chemistry and overall play. The problems continued and expanded into the Big East season and ended on a sour note with a loss to a subpar Butler team. I’m guessing PC tries to stick with coach English for another year or 2 at least.

Coach Cooley: I think we all look like fools now. He did not have a good season at Georgetown but he had 3 players make all big east team. I wish he had left the conference because we owe him a lot.

Hopkins: I still believe he is overrated and is a good supporting player but not a lead. Not sure if his presence would have helped. He is not at level of the forwards at St. Johns, UCONN, Georgetown and Marquette. Long road for him after injuries.

This Team all-time – My 40 years only. I rank them as #2 worst. I recall one Keno Davis team that might have been worse. The Gordon Chiesa year the players were exciting to watch.

Fans: Hope the AMP stays electric and hope this performance does not lead to a downturn. I don’t believe so.

The Team: Lack of a breakout player. Oswin is a real find but was a little too inconsistent in the points department. Others were just ok but lacked star potential.

League Mergers or Expansion: Concerned if we merge with ACC and we struggle to compete. We’ll see if something happens in a few years.

Best,

Scott

Hearing from a lot of people like Scott with questions across the board after this past year. This portal season needs to get here quickly. The program needs some sort of momentum-changing wins this spring. It’s been one hit after another between the injury woes and going from a .500 Big East club to one that couldn’t buy a win in February.

Not sure about Cooley making Providence fans look like fools. He left on his own accord. This season was a step forward for Georgetown, but Louisville is in the dance this year after being a dumpster fire the past five years or so. I wouldn’t call Cooley’s first two seasons a rousing success, and I’d guess he wouldn’t either after finishing 8-12 in the league and being swept by DePaul.

Between his shooting struggles early last season and his injury, Bryce Hopkins is somehow become underrated in some corners of Friartown. When healthy, there isn’t a team in the league he doesn’t start, and shine, for.

I’ve been following the Big East since I was a kid and started as a student at PC in 1997. There have been two seasons that were far worse than this one in my time: 1999-2000 and 2009-10.

This past season was rough on the court, but those years were completely embarrassing away from it as well.

The 2000 season ended with an 11-19 record overall and a 4-12 mark in the league. Shortly after the season came the “Prime Time incident” with assault charges, mass suspensions, and expulsions.

For those who forget, here is an excerpt from a New York Times article, “Eight basketball players were involved in a brutal fight with three other Providence students one evening last month that left two students lying bloodied on the ground and in need of reconstructive facial surgery… The Providence Friars have been a primary source of pride, inspiration and entertainment for people in this area for half a century, but they are scrambling right now just to find enough players to fill next season's roster.”

That last line was no exaggeration. We weren’t sure how they’d fill out the roster so late in the spring, and they miraculously bounced back the next year to reach the NCAA Tournament.

Keno Davis’ second year saw PC go 12-19 overall and 4-14 in the league. It also involved two players randomly assaulting another student.

So, while this year was filled with frustration, it doesn’t come near those two for me. I wasn’t planning on closing on such a depressing not, but…

Thanks to everyone who sent in their questions/thoughts!