Freshman Stefan Vaaks of Estonia could help PC after recovering from knee surgery
By KEVIN McNAMARA
PROVIDENCE – Kim English, like every other college basketball coach with a pulse these days, is navigating these wild, crazy times on the fly.
The combination of full free agency and no salary cap is a new dynamic in sports. The NBA doesn’t play by those rules. Neither does the NFL or any other professional sport. But with an open transfer portal carrying no redshirt penalties and zero guardrails on how much players can be compensated, college hoop programs are sailing in unchartered waters.
While there is a perception that money – rolling up the largest payroll – is the one silver bullet, that’s untrue. Ask Kansas, Indiana or a few other high-spending programs that fell far short of expectations in the 2024-25 season.
That brings us to Providence and English’s roster-building efforts that thus far will deliver eight new players to Friartown this week for the start of summer school sessions and workouts. In an interview aired on WPRO radio last week addressing many PC issues, English pointed out that he’s attacked this “portal, free agency madness,” process three times and in three different ways. Again, these coaches are learning on the fly, all over the country.
Three years ago English was leaving George Mason and took established, major college players in Josh Oduro and Ticket Gaines with him. Justyn Fernandez was another piece from Mason and English said he’s “regretful we didn’t bring more guys from George Mason.” Combining Oduro and Gaines with Devin Carter and Bryce Hopkins (before a January, 2024 knee injury) helped English get his time in Providence off to a strong 11-2 start before the loss of Hopkins and ultimately a 21-14 record and a spot in the N.I.T.
In just a few weeks after that season ended, English and his staff aggressively targeted a large group of transfer additions and spent a significant, multi-million dollar payroll in the process. Ultimately, that group under-performed, for several reasons. Combine that with the drama that played out with Hopkins re-injuring his knee after only three games and choosing to redshirt instead of returning to the lineup during Big East play and the Friars season was cooked.
That leads us to the spring of 2025 and English’s third crack at building a team that can win in the Big East and return to the NCAA Tournament. This time around English said he worked hard at finding players that fit his culture and can ultimately come together as a winning team, and involving his holdover players in the process.
“A lot of this stuff is learning on the fly,” English said. “You spend so much time in the spring on getting (new) guys, but you also have players on campus and returnees who are excited to step into a new role. Last year I think there was a split, a divide on our team before we even got a chance to get them together.”
English said he involved returnees like veteran guard Corey Floyd, Jr., and wings Richard Barron and Ryan Mela “in every move we were making,” with those Friars asking former teammates and hoop friends about backgrounds and personalities. Also, the coach admits “we were a bit more patient and we just got a lot more information of who these new players are.”
What was English and his staff looking for when shopping for transfer portal additions? Athleticism topped the list, he said.
“I like to say we got a lot more athletic,” he said. “When I left the SEC (as an assistant at Tennessee) I kind of forgot how athletic the league was. I watched St. John’s-Arkansas (in the NCAA’s) and Arkansas’ athleticism, the defense, was exciting to watch. We wanted to get more athletic and we did that.”
English cited the increased strength and explosion of young big man Oswin Erhunmwunse to go along with the attributes of some other newcomers. He mentioned to speed of scoring point guard Jason Edwards, the defensive ability of Daquan Davis and the pop from wing Jalin Sellers, among others.
PC’s Transfer Class
| PG Jason Edwards | 6-1, 175 (Vanderbilt) |
| PG Daquan Davis | 6-1, 175 (Fla. State) |
| F Jalin Sellers | 6-5, 205 (Central Florida) |
| F Duncan Powell | 6-8, 235 (Ga. Tech) |
| F Cole Hargrove | 6-8, 250 (Drexel) |
Jason Edwards averaged 17 ppg at Vandy in 2025
English said he felt last year’s team would have been substantially better than a 12-20 finish if Hopkins was playing. “I really believe if we were healthy we would have been better,” he said.
While no doubt true, the impact of transfers like Christ Essandoko, Wesley Cardet and Jabri Abdur-Rahim was muted for long stretches of the season. Essandoko never showed he could play at the Big East level. Cardet only flashed glimpses but wasn’t close to the impact scorer the Friars banked on. Abdur-Rahim was slowed by personal issues with the untimely death of his uncle and then a season-ending knee injury.
This time around, English targeted players who’ve “put it in the books at a high level, consistently” in leagues like the SEC, ACC and the Big 12. “We worked on the information gathering in finding who these players are and who they were in the ecosystem of their teams,” he said. “There was a notable difference in the high-level productivity of these guys. Production at a level that’s comparable to the Big East. It’s less of a projection when you see what Jason Edwards or Jalin Sellers or Duncan Powell did in the SEC or the ACC.”
Securing the talent necessary to compete in the transfer portal era is expensive. Last year there was no limits on what schools and their collectives could give to prospects. This year schools are awaiting the House vs. NCAA settlement that will provide schools the ability to use their own athletic revenue to pay players. Athletic Director Steve Napolillo said PC is prepared to do that with men’s and women’s basketball and men’s hockey.
“We are going to be as aggressive as possible to compete at the highest level,” he said. “We’re going to do everything we can to give our coaches the resources they need to compete for Big East and national championships and we’re committed to do that at the highest level.”
How did English slot players into and out of his budget, which for the 2025-26 season is expected to be towards the upper half of the Big East ($7-10 million perhaps)?
“Some of our most generous donors stepped up in a major way,” English said. “I’ll say this, money is never the reason we didn’t get a kid. But we want kids who want to be at Providence for something a lot more important than money.”
Napolillo reported a 96 percent season ticket renewal rate and a 2,000 person waiting list.
English addressed the departure of Hopkins to St. John’s where he’ll play for Rick Pitino and a reported multi-million dollar NIL package. English was brief but blamed the ability for players to move and get a medical redshirt on the NCAA’s rules. He did not express any dismay at losing a All-Big East level player who took nearly $1 million from Providence last season and played in only three games.
“It’s a new era in college athletics. We are at an era where the NCAA has allowed this,” English said. “The NCAA has allowed (transfer) windows
They gave us this portal without any guidelines. They gave us this portal without any guidelines. They gave us NIL without any guidelines. So you now have a business now. People are going to make business decisions. Bryce and his family made a decision for what they feel is best for his future. We love Bryce, we wish him the best, all but for two or three games.”
