Update on Craig Leighton and Friar Basketball

As I’m sure you have noticed, Craig Leighton has not been writing recently, as he has been working his way through a medical issue over the past few months.

Craig and I spoke after the URI game last night, and we wanted to provide an update for those of you who have enjoyed his writing over the past decade for Friar Basketball and had been wondering why you haven’t heard from him.

I’m happy to share that Craig is aiming to start writing again for the site soon, and personally, I am really looking forward to getting his perspective on the program that he loves so much.

Having this website, and going to so many home and away games, has offered me the opportunity to meet so many passionate Friar fans, but I’m certain I have yet to meet anyone with his devotion to Providence College and its basketball team.

We often joke in our private conversations about the team that I am always worried or poking holes in what could go wrong in a given season, while he is the eternal optimist who always assumes the Friars will somehow find a way.

I tell him it’s because he saw the days of Jimmy Walker, Marvin Barnes, and Ernie D. — that he experienced a pair of Final Four runs and knows what it felt like to follow the Friars when they were a perennial top 10 team in the 1970s.

In reality, though, it’s just who Craig is: an optimist who seemingly always finds the positive in any situation and the good in people.

He’s enriched my experience following this program tenfold. I’ve learned so much about the history of the team from him, and he has made me a better writer with his perspective on all things Providence basketball.

Neither of us are quick to get in front of a camera, but in preparation for the podcast on the 2014 team I was watching old videos and saw us together at press row countless times. A screen-grab from a game during that season will have to do for now. That’s us in the back intently looking on.

I’m really looking forward to reading Craig’s work again soon. I know we are all wishing him a speedy recovery.