Rafael Castro Makes an Impact in Providence's Season Opener

Plus notes on Ticket Gaines' early statement, Devin Carter in control, Garwey Dual shows glimpses (then goes down), and more

Rafael Castro is used to waiting his turn. What was another 13 minutes?

The redshirt sophomore big man sat and watched throughout most of the first half of Providence’s season-opening, 78-57, win over Columbia on Monday. Yet, when Kim English called his number, Castro was ready.

He entered the game with just over four minutes to play, and by the two-minute mark in the half he already scored six points — on a dunk, a tip in, and a left-handed layup in transition.

The second half brought three loud rejections. The first came when Castro appeared from the paint to block a corner 3-point attempt out of bounds, followed by a swat of a mid-range shot, and finally when he pinned another Columbia attempt off the glass.

“Slim was great, especially after sitting through a few rotations,” Kim English said following his debut as PC’s head coach. “We went to Bryce at the five, which we love. Slim went in at (the) 4:41 (mark on the clock). I was really curious to see what he’d look like — Josh had two fouls — and he was really good.

“He absolutely elevated the tenor of the game.”

English commented on how Castro is expected to play important minutes after a summer and fall in which he was productive in practice and during Providence’s trip to Spain.

In 14 minutes on Monday, Castro finished with 13 points on 6-7 shooting from the field, to go along with three blocks, three rebounds, and a steal.

It was fair to question whether Castro would see many minutes in the opener after English went to freshman Rich Barron off the bench before him, and as the clock ticked toward halftime with no sign of him.

Credit Castro, he came in and made an immediate impact.

The Dover, NJ native should be a critical piece for a Providence team that has no one else over 6’9. If Castro is to play big minutes, it will be the first time he has done so since his junior year in high school (his senior season was wiped away due to the pandemic, he redshirted two years ago, and mainly sat behind Ed Croswell and Clifton Moore last year).

The competition will only ramp up, especially on the interior, as the season progresses, but opening night was certainly a positive step forward for Castro.

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Notes from the opener against Columbia:

1. Ticket Gaines was the early tone setter for the Friars, as he hit the deck twice in the first minute and a half of the game. English was particularly fired up about Gaines’ effort.

The graduate transfer is simply someone this coaching staff has a lot of trust in. This will be English’s fifth year coaching Gaines (two seasons as an assistant at Tennessee and two at George Mason), and the coaching staff has long praised Gaines for making winning plays. He had 10 points and seven rebounds at the half for the Friars, and finished with 12 points (on just four field goal attempts), seven rebounds, and two steals.

After the win, defensive dynamo Devin Carter said Gaines is a better defender than he is, a notion that Gaines quickly dismissed. Regardless, Gaines did a bit of everything in his debut, playing 27 minutes, knocking down a three, and taking seven free throw attempts.

2. Providence’s offense definitely played at a faster clip (nearly 80 possessions) on Monday, but turnovers were a problem, as was the team’s inability to hit from beyond the arc.

PC had 18 turnovers on Monday and shot 6-23 (26.1%) from three. English was disappointed with the turnovers in his postgame comments, but didn’t seem overly shocked considering it is a new system and there were some opening night jitters.

3. Carter was the best Friar on the floor Monday. He got to the rim seemingly whenever he pleased and made 5-8 shots from the field (1-2 from three) on his way to a 13-point, 6-rebound, 4-assist, 3-steal opener.

4. Freshman Garwey Dual was the first Friar off the bench, and had an impact in the five minutes he played prior to apparently turning his ankle. Dual buried the first 3-point attempt of his career, and also came up with a steal, a block, an assist, and a board in his abbreviated debut.

English offered little by the way of an update when asked about Dual’s injury status.

5. “I thought we could have played a lot faster — and smarter,” English said following a win in which PC finished in the high 70s in possessions. To put that in perspective, Providence averaged 64.7 possessions per 40 minutes two seasons ago, and 66.8 last year.

6. English compared the home crowd to a mid-year SEC or Big 12 game when asked about playing at the Amica Mutual Pavilion.

“I’ve never seen a crowd like that for opening night in my 14 years of college basketball,” he said.

7. Providence returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 6pm when they host what should be a competitive Milwaukee team (Fox Sports 1, WPRO).