By KEVIN McNAMARA
The rebuilding of the Providence College basketball program has begun.
After a heavy dose of defections, Kim English added two important pieces to the 2025-26 roster on Wednesday with the addition of point guard Daquan Davis and forward Cole Hargrove. Davis comes to Providence via Florida State where he enjoyed a promising freshman year, while Hargrove was one of the better rebounders in the Coastal Athletic Association at Drexel.
Reached via phone, Davis pointed out that he had committed to English at one time coming out of high school in Baltimore and at Overtime Elite in Atlanta. He eventually landed at Florida State to play for legendary coach Leonard Hamilton but with the retirement of Hamilton he wanted to explore his options in the transfer portal. Davis is one of nine Seminoles that entered the portal after the hiring of new coach Luke Loucks.
“When Coach Ham left I had to consider different options,” Davis said. “I just hit the portal two days ago so this happened real quick.”
Asked why Providence was the quick landing spot, Davis said “I trust them like I trusted them before. I know they’re looking out for my best interests so I knew it was the right spot.”
Davis started 20 of 31 games and averaged 25 minutes. He scored 8.8 points and led the team with 2.5 assists a game. He’ll need to improve his 36 percent shooting (28% on 3’s) but totaled 77 assists to 50 turnovers. The Seminoles finished 17-15 overall and 8-12 in the ACC.
“I think I adjusted really well. I feel like I was able to do what I needed to do my freshman year coming into the ACC, averaging the minutes I did and winning basketball games,” David said.
In a story from late-January via FSUNews.com, Davis said he knows improving his shooting is the next step to his game.
“Definitely shooting when I’m tired,” Davis said. “In high school, I was just faster than everybody, but now the intensity has picked up and I’m drained by the time I get a shot. I’ve been working on going really hard before I shoot around and then shooting while I’m tired.”
Hargrove is a burly 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds and took major strides as a junior at Drexel. After not playing much in his first two seasons, the Norristown, Pa., native was an All-Defensive pick in the CAA after averaging 9.9 points and 7.5 rebounds. He shot 58 percent from the floor and recorded five double-doubles including a 19 points, 10 rebound effort against Elon in the CAA Tournament.
Hargrove is strictly an inside player with limited shooting range but is an aggressive offensive rebounder.
English retained guard Corey Floyd, Jr., and wing Nilavan Jotham-Daniels from the 2024-25 roster so Davis can be slotted in as the only true point guard in the program. Another point guard is certainly needed as well.
Wings Rich Barron and Ryan Mela, plus center Oswin Erhunmwunse round out the roster. Hargrove adds bulk and frontcourt leadership to the mix. Davis said he’s looking forward to the Friars adding several more pieces to the mix
“I always look out for everybody else so I’ll make sure that anybody who wants to come play, everybody eats,” he said.
