2021–22 Providence Friars men's basketball team

2021–22 Providence Friars men's basketball
2021–22 Providence Friars men's basketball
Big East regular season champions
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 13
Record	27–6 (14–3 Big East)
Head coach	Ed Cooley (11th season);
Assistant coaches	Jeff Battle (7th season); Brian Blaney (11th season); Ivan Thomas (7th season);
Home arena	Dunkin' Donuts Center
	Seasons ← 2020–21 2022–23 →

The 2021–22 Providence Friars men's basketball team represented Providence College during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by 11th-year head coach Ed Cooley, and played their home games at Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island as a member of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 27–6, 14–3 in Big East play to win the school's first regular season championship.^[1] The Friars defeated Butler in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament before losing to Creighton in the semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 4 seed in the Midwest region. They defeated South Dakota State and Richmond to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. There they lost to No. 1 seed and eventual national champion Kansas.

2021–22 Big East men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 13 Providence	14	–	3	.824	27	–	6	.818
No. 6 Villanova †	16	–	4	.800	30	–	8	.789
No. 21 UConn	13	–	6	.684	23	–	10	.697
Creighton	12	–	7	.632	23	–	12	.657
Seton Hall	11	–	8	.579	21	–	11	.656
Marquette	11	–	8	.579	19	–	13	.594
Xavier	8	–	11	.421	23	–	13	.639
St. John's	8	–	11	.421	17	–	15	.531
Butler	6	–	14	.300	14	–	19	.424
DePaul	6	–	14	.300	15	–	16	.484
Georgetown	0	–	19	.000	6	–	25	.194

† 2022 Big East tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Friars finished the 2020–21 season 13–13, 9–10 in Big East play to finish in sixth place. As the No. 6 seed in the Big East tournament, they lost to DePaul in the first round.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Greg Gantt	1	F	6'8"	220	Sophomore	Fayetteville, NC	Transferred to NC State
Kris Monroe	2	F	6'8"	215	Junior	Creedmoor, NC	Transferred to North Carolina Central
David Duke Jr.	3	G	6'5"	205	Junior	Providence, RI	Declared for the 2021 NBA draft^[2]
Jimmy Nichols Jr.	5	F	6'8"	220	Junior	Conway, SC	Transferred to VCU
Jyare Davis	13	F	6'7"	215	Freshman	Newark, DE	Transferred to Delaware

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Al Durham^[3]	1	G	6'4"	180	Graduate Student	Lilburn, GA	Indiana
Matteus Case	3	G	6'5"	190	Freshman	Pickering, ON	Penn
Justin Minaya	15	F	6'7"	210	Graduate Student	Harrington Park, NJ	South Carolina

Recruiting classes

2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Rafael Castro #24 PF	Dover, NJ	Dover High School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Nov 5, 2020
Rafael Castro #24 PF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 81
Legend Geeter #30 PF	River Rouge, MI	River Rouge High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sep 11, 2020
Legend Geeter #30 PF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 79
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 15, 2021.

2022 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2022 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Quant'e Berry #40 SG	Cleveland, TN	Winston-Salem Prep	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jul 5, 2021
Quant'e Berry #40 SG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80
Jayden Pierre #39 PG	Brookville, NY	Long Island Lutheran High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Sep 26, 2021
Jayden Pierre #39 PG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80
Christ Essandoko C	Paris, France	Winston-Salem Prep	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	265 lb (120 kg)	Oct 2, 2021
Christ Essandoko C	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2022 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 15, 2021.

Roster

2021–22 Providence Friars men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
C	0	Nate Watson	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	GS	Bishop O'Connell High School	Portsmouth, Virginia
G	1	Al Durham	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	GS	Berkmar Indiana	Lilburn, Georgia
G	3	Matteus Case	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Chaminade College Prep Penn	Pickering, Ontario
G	4	Jared Bynum	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	RS Jr	Georgetown Prep Saint Joseph's	Largo, Maryland
F	5	Ed Croswell	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Sr	St. Joseph's Prep La Salle	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
G	10	Alyn Breed	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	McEachern High School	Powder Springs, Georgia
G	11	A. J. Reeves	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Brimmer and May School	Roxbury, Massachusetts
G	12	Brycen Goodine	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	St. Andrew's School Syracuse	New Bedford, Massachusetts
F	14	Noah Horchler	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	GS	Melbourne High School North Florida	Melbourne Beach, Florida
F	15	Justin Minaya	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	GS	Northern Valley at Old Tappan South Carolina	Harrington Park, New Jersey
G	22	Luke Fonts (W)	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Portsmouth Abbey School	Portsmouth, Rhode Island
F	23	Legend Geeter	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Fr	River Rouge High School	River Rouge, Michigan
G	24	Andrew Fonts (W)	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	GS	Portsmouth Abbey School	Portsmouth, Rhode Island
F	30	Rafael Castro	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr	Dover High School	Dover, New Jersey
F	31	Kieran O'Haire (W)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	The Albany Academy	Menands, New York

Head coach

Ed Cooley (Stonehill)

Assistant coach(es)

Jeff Battle (Marshall)
Brian Blaney (Roanoke)
Ivan Thomas (VCU)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

The Friars had games against Creighton,^[4] UConn,^[5] and Seton Hall canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.^[6] An additional game against Georgetown was originally canceled^[7] and then later rescheduled for January 20, 2022.^[8]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 21, 2021* 7:00 p.m.		Stonehill	W 95–71		17 – Watson	8 – Durham	5 – Durham	Dunkin' Donuts Center (3,895) Providence, RI
Non-conference regular season
November 9, 2021* 7:00 p.m., FS1		Fairfield	W 80–73	1–0	22 – Watson	11 – Horchler	4 – Bynum	Dunkin' Donuts Center (9,990) Providence, RI
November 11, 2021* 6:30 p.m., FS1		Sacred Heart	W 92–64	2–0	15 – Breed	10 – Watson	4 – Bynum	Dunkin' Donuts Center (9,716) Providence, RI
November 15, 2021* 9:00 p.m., FS1		at Wisconsin Gavitt Tipoff Games	W 63–58	3–0	24 – Watson	9 – Bynum	7 – Bynum	Kohl Center (15,773) Madison, WI
November 18, 2021* 6:30 p.m., FS2		New Hampshire	W 69–58	4–0	19 – Durham	12 – Horchler	4 – Horchler	Dunkin' Donuts Center (4,872) Providence, RI
November 22, 2021* 9:30 p.m., ESPN+		vs. Northwestern Legends Classic semifinals	W 77–72	5–0	16 – Watson	7 – Horchler	7 – Durham	Prudential Center (3,719) Newark, NJ
November 23, 2021* 7:30 p.m., ESPN2		vs. Virginia Legends Classic championship	L 40–58	5–1	14 – Horchler	7 – Horchler	3 – Bynum	Prudential Center (2,787) Newark, NJ
November 27, 2021* 12:00 p.m., FS2		Saint Peter's	W 85–71	6–1	25 – Horchler	11 – Horchler	5 – Horchler	Dunkin' Donuts Center (6,978) Providence, RI
December 1, 2021* 8:30 p.m., FS1		Texas Tech Big East–Big 12 Battle	W 72–68	7–1	23 – Durham	8 – Reeves	2 – 2 tied	Dunkin' Donuts Center (10,022) Providence, RI
December 4, 2021* 2:00 p.m., CBSSN		Rhode Island Ocean State Cup	W 66–52	8–1	16 – Horchler	15 – Croswell	6 – Durham	Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,947) Providence, RI
December 7, 2021* 6:30 p.m., FS1		Vermont	W 68–58	9–1	24 – 2 Tied	10 – Horchler	5 – Durham	Dunkin' Donuts Center (5,087) Providence, RI
December 11, 2021* 2:00 p.m., FS1		Central Connecticut	W 68–53	10–1	17 – Reeves	10 – Horchler	7 – Reeves	Dunkin' Donuts Center (5,111) Providence, RI
Big East regular season
December 18, 2021 5:00 p.m., FOX		at No. 20 UConn	W 57–53	11–1 (1–0)	16 – Reeves	7 – Watson	4 – Durham	XL Center (15,564) Hartford, CT
December 29, 2021 7:00 p.m., FS1	No. 21	No. 15 Seton Hall	W 70–65	12–1 (2–0)	17 – Horchler	13 – Horchler	4 – Bynum	Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,069) Providence, RI
January 1, 2022 3:00 p.m., FOX	No. 21	at DePaul	W 70–53	13–1 (3–0)	17 – Durham	11 – Minaya	7 – Bynum	Wintrust Arena (2,956) Chicago, IL
January 4, 2022 9:00 p.m., FS1	No. 16т	at Marquette	L 56–88	13–2 (3–1)	16 – Durham	8 – Watson	3 – Bynum	Fiserv Forum (11,757) Milwaukee, WI
January 8, 2022 12:00 p.m., FS1	No. 16т	St. John's	W 83–73	14–2 (4–1)	22 – Watson	13 – Horchler	3 – Bynum	Dunkin' Donuts Center (10,008) Providence, RI
January 11, 2022 9:00 p.m., FS1	No. 23	at Creighton	Canceled due to COVID-19 protocols					CHI Health Center Omaha Omaha, NE
January 15, 2022 2:00 p.m., FS1	No. 23	UConn	Canceled due to COVID-19 protocols					Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI
January 18, 2022 7:00 p.m., FS1	No. 21	at Seton Hall	Canceled due to COVID-19 protocols					Prudential Center Newark, NJ
January 20, 2022 5:00 p.m., FS1	No. 21	Georgetown Rescheduled from December 22	W 83–75	15–2 (5–1)	15 – 2 Tied	9 – Minaya	8 – Bynum	Dunkin' Donuts Center (9,105) Providence, RI
January 23, 2022 12:00 p.m., FS1	No. 21	Butler	W 69–62	16–2 (6–1)	18 – Watson	8 – 2 tied	6 – Bynum	Dunkin' Donuts Center (10,561) Providence, RI
January 26, 2022 6:30 p.m., CBSSN	No. 17	at No. 21 Xavier	W 65–62	17–2 (7–1)	22 – Durham	11 – Horchler	4 – 2 tied	Cintas Center (10,224) Cincinnati, OH
January 30, 2022 12:30 p.m., FS1	No. 17	No. 22 Marquette	W 65–63	18–2 (8–1)	17 – Watson	10 – Horchler	6 – Bynum	Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,157) Providence, RI
February 1, 2022 9:00 p.m., CBSSN	No. 15	at St. John's	W 86–82	19–2 (9–1)	16 – Bynum	7 – Horchler	4 – 2 tied	Carnesecca Arena (4,781) Queens, NY
February 6, 2022 12:00 p.m., FS1	No. 15	at Georgetown	W 71–52	20–2 (10–1)	32 – Bynum	10 – Horchler	3 – Durham	Capital One Arena (5,575) Washington, D.C.
February 12, 2022 6:30 p.m., FS1	No. 11	DePaul	W 76–73 ^OT	21–2 (11–1)	25 – Bynum	7 – 3 Tied	6 – Bynum	Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,810) Provdience, RI
February 15, 2022 8:00 p.m., CBSSN	No. 8	No. 10 Villanova	L 84–89	21–3 (11–2)	20 – Watson	7 – Tied	3 – Tied	Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,636) Providence, RI
February 20, 2022 1:00 p.m., FS1	No. 8	at Butler	W 71–70 ^OT	22–3 (12–2)	22 – Watson	11 – Horchler	5 – Bynum	Hinkle Fieldhouse (7,588) Indianapolis, IN
February 23, 2022 7:00 p.m., CBSSN	No. 11	Xavier	W 99–92 ^3OT	23–3 (13–2)	27 – Bynum	9 – Horchler	6 – Durham	Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,400) Providence, RI
February 26, 2022 8:30 p.m., FS1	No. 11	Creighton	W 72–51	24–3 (14–2)	23 – Reeves	11 – Minaya	7 – Bynum	Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,400) Providence, RI
March 1, 2022 6:30 p.m., FS1	No. 9	at No. 11 Villanova	L 74–76	24–4 (14–3)	19 – Bynum	7 – Horchler	10 – Bynum	Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA
Big East tournament
March 10, 2022 12:00 p.m., FS1	(1) No. 11	vs. (9) Butler Quarterfinals	W 65–61	25–4	26 – Watson	8 – Minaya	3 – Reeves	Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York, NY
March 11, 2022 6:30 p.m., FS1	(1) No. 11	vs. (4) Creighton Semifinals	L 58–85	25–5	21 – Durham	6 – Minaya	3 – Durham	Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York, NY
NCAA tournament
March 17, 2022 12:40 p.m., truTV	(4 MW) No. 13	vs. (13 MW) South Dakota State First Round	W 66–57	26–5	13 – Durham	9 – Tied	6 – Durham	KeyBank Center Buffalo, NY
March 19, 2022 6:10 p.m., TNT	(4 MW) No. 13	vs. (12 MW) Richmond Second Round	W 79–51	27–5	16 – Horchler	14 – Horchler	6 – Bynum	KeyBank Center Buffalo, NY
March 25, 2022 7:29 p.m., TBS	(4 MW) No. 13	vs. (1 MW) No. 3 Kansas Sweet Sixteen	L 61–66	27–6	21 – Durham	8 – Horchler	4 – Tied	United Center (20,857) Chicago, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[9]^[10]

Awards and honors

Big East Conference honors

All-Big East Awards

Coach of the Year: Ed Cooley
Sixth Man: Jared Bynum

All-Big East Second Team

Jared Bynum
Nate Watson

Sources^[11]^[12]^[13]

References

^ "Providence wins 1st Big East regular-season title". ESPN.com. February 27, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
^ "Providence Native & PC Star David Duke Jr. Declares For 2021 NBA Draft". ABC6. April 3, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
^ Wallace, Dylan. "Al Durham Announces Grad Transfer to Providence". Sports Illustrated Indiana Hoosiers News, Analysis and More. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
^ "Creighton's home game Tuesday against Providence canceled". KETV. January 11, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
^ Serritella, Ric. "BIG EAST Announces Cancellation of UConn at Providence Game". Huskies Report. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
^ Zagoria, Adam (January 14, 2022). "Providence-Seton Hall game canceled due to COVID-19 issues with Friars". nj. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
^ Gagosz, Alexa (December 21, 2021). "Providence men's basketball game vs. Georgetown canceled 'due to COVID related issues' - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
^ Koch, Bill. "Providence College Friars return to action Thursday against Georgetown Hoyas". The Providence Journal. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
^ "2021-22 Providence Friars Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
^ "2021–22 Men's Basketball Schedule". Providence College Athletics. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
^ "Champagnie, Gillespie Repeat on All-Big East First Team". Big East Conference. March 6, 2022. Archived from the original on March 11, 2022. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
^ "Big East Announces Individual MBB Awards". Big East Conference. March 7, 2022. Archived from the original on March 9, 2022. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
^ Fitzpatrick, Mike (March 9, 2022). "Gillespie Big East POY again, Cooley 1st Friars coach to win". Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 17, 2022.

[1] "Providence wins 1st Big East regular-season title". ESPN.com. February 27, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2022.

[2] "Providence Native & PC Star David Duke Jr. Declares For 2021 NBA Draft". ABC6. April 3, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.

[3] Wallace, Dylan. "Al Durham Announces Grad Transfer to Providence". Sports Illustrated Indiana Hoosiers News, Analysis and More. Retrieved December 15, 2021.

[4] "Creighton's home game Tuesday against Providence canceled". KETV. January 11, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2022.

[5] Serritella, Ric. "BIG EAST Announces Cancellation of UConn at Providence Game". Huskies Report. Retrieved February 21, 2022.

[6] Zagoria, Adam (January 14, 2022). "Providence-Seton Hall game canceled due to COVID-19 issues with Friars". nj. Retrieved February 21, 2022.

[7] Gagosz, Alexa (December 21, 2021). "Providence men's basketball game vs. Georgetown canceled 'due to COVID related issues' - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved February 21, 2022.

[8] Koch, Bill. "Providence College Friars return to action Thursday against Georgetown Hoyas". The Providence Journal. Retrieved February 21, 2022.

[9] "2021-22 Providence Friars Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 15, 2021.

[10] "2021–22 Men's Basketball Schedule". Providence College Athletics. Retrieved October 15, 2021.

[11] "Champagnie, Gillespie Repeat on All-Big East First Team". Big East Conference. March 6, 2022. Archived from the original on March 11, 2022. Retrieved April 17, 2022.

[12] "Big East Announces Individual MBB Awards". Big East Conference. March 7, 2022. Archived from the original on March 9, 2022. Retrieved April 17, 2022.

[13] Fitzpatrick, Mike (March 9, 2022). "Gillespie Big East POY again, Cooley 1st Friars coach to win". Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 17, 2022.

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