Bryan Hodgson will be introduced as the next Providence head coach on Tuesday
By KEVIN McNAMARA
He owns a gripping life story, a hard-scrabble route to success and a promising record of achievement in three short years as a head college basketball coach.
And now he’s newest leader of the Providence College Friars.
PC and Bryan Hodgson have agreed on a deal that will bring the 38-year old to town. A press conference introducing Hodgson will be held at PC on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
Hodgson has been one of the hottest names on this turn of the coaching carousel. It’s also a position he’s become used to as this will be his third different head coaching job in three years but this job in the Big East is easily his toughest and potentially most rewarding.
Hodgson led Arkansas State in 2024 and ’25 before jumping to South Florida this past season. He won 20 or more games in each of the three seasons and carries a 70-37 record to Providence. His Arkansas State teams played in the CBI and NIT and USF’s Bulls were just beaten by Louisville in the NCAA Tournament, 83-79.
Asked before the Louisville game about receiving overtures from other schools, Hodgson didn’t dodge the elephant in the room. “It’s a blessing to be wanted,” he said.
“I’m incredibly honored and excited to be named the next head coach of the Providence Friars men’s basketball program,” Hodgson said in a press release. “This is a program with a proud tradition, passionate fan base, and a city that truly embraces its team. We’re going to build something that reflects that pride. We will be tough, disciplined, and relentless in our pursuit of excellence.”
Hodgson and his fiancee, Jordan, have a son, Jett, who was born in 2024.
PC athletic director Steve Napolillo weighed the positives and negatives of many potential replacements for Kim English throughout his search for a new coach. Hodgson owns both. First the negatives. With just three years of head coaching experience, Hodgson’s resume is nearly as thin as English’s was when he came to PC after two years as the George Mason head coach. He’s also spent the majority of his coaching career out of the East.
The positives? Hodgson and his staff (which at USF included men with ties to the Northeast) became known as dogged recruiters with a keen eye for unearthed talent. As a top assistant at Alabama, Hodgson helped head coach Nate Oates bring in NBA lottery picks and other high-end talent that’s catapulted the Crimson Tide into a Top 10 national program. As a game coach, Hodgson’s teams play at a fast tempo, score a lot of points and force teams into turnovers on defense.
“They’ve had a sensational season and been unbelievably consistent,” said Charlotte coach Aaron Ferne after losing to USF in The American Conference tournament. “Coach (Hodgson) has done a fantastic job with their system and their players, and the pressure that they put on you to be very tough, very, very good in all phases of the game. You’ve got to really concentrate to really compete with them to put enough pressure back on them.”
Hodgson’s mentor, Alabama coach Nate Oats, applauded the hiring.
“Providence got themselves a proven winner. Bryan is a rising star in the business,” Oats said. “He plays a modern, high-octane, hard-playing, tough style of basketball. He’s relentless on the recruiting trail, plays a style that elite level players love to play in, and knows how to connect with his players. In just three years as a head coach, Bryan delivered conference championships at Arkansas State and South Florida. His brand of basketball wins! Bryan will bring a winning brand of basketball to Providence that the community will love to watch.”
So where did Hodgson come from? Now that’s quite a story.
From the basketball sense, the true minor leagues. He was an AAU player on a Buffalo-based team, played in junior college at Jamestown Community College and jumped into the coaching world as a student assistant at Fredonia (N.Y.) State. A move to the Texas junior college ranks at Midland followed before the big break that anyone beating the bushes needs: a return home to the University of Buffalo to work for head coach Oates.
With Hodgson helping find the players, Oates’ coaching star exploded in his four years at Buffalo. The Bulls won the Mid-American tourney title three times and then went on to win games in the NCAA Tournament in both 2018 (upsetting Arizona) and 2019 (Arizona State). The 2019 team finished 32-4 and rose to as high as #14 in the national polls.
Oates left Buffalo for Alabama after the 2019 season and Hodgson followed along for his shot at the big leagues – the Southeastern Conference. Success followed, especially in the 2022-23 season when the Crimson Tide rolled to a 31-6 record and a number one seed in the NCAA’s. Much of that success was fueled by superior recruiting as Oates, Hodgson and the staff signed a top 5 class entering the year that featured Ohio transfer guard Mark Sears, two first round NBA Draft picks in Brandon Miller (3rd overall) and Noah Clowney (21st) and current Arizona All-American guard Jaden Bradley.
After a Sweet 16 loss to San Diego State, Hodgson was a hot name and it was his time to jump. He landed his first head coaching job at Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Ark. He inherited a 13-20 team but flipped the script instantly as the 2023-24 Red Wolves finished 20-17. The next season was even better as Arkansas State finished 25-11 with a spot in the NIT.
But two years were enough in the Sun Belt as Hodgson was hired as the South Florida coach in March of 2025. The coach brought a few key pieces with him to Tampa, most notably big forward Izaiyah Nelson and shooter Joe Pinion. The Bulls were not an instant hit as the team began the season 8-6 and lost its American Conference opener to Alabama-Birmingham. But something clicked, as the quick-paced Bulls (87.7 ppg/16th in the country in Tempo) began piling up the points and digging in on defense.
The Bulls would finish their season 17-3, sweeping the AAC regular/postseason titles for the first time in school history and earning an 11-seed in the NCAA’s. A season-ending loss to Louisville, 83-79, was marked by a major comeback from a 23-point deficit with 12:50 to play.
HODGSON COACHING RESUME
| 2023-24 Ark. State | 20-17 | CBI | KenPom Off-Def: 61-251 |
| 24-25 Ark. State | 25-11 | NIT | KP Off-Def: 93-91 |
| 25-26 South Florida | 25-9 | NCAA | KP Off-Def: 63-40 |
Hodgson’s personal story became national news during the NCAA Tournament. He was born to a 15-year old unwed mother and put up for adoption as a two-year old after a man placed him on a wood stove and he sustained burns on his legs. He spent time in the foster-care system before being adopted by Larry and Rebecca Hodgson in Buffalo.
When South Florida was sent to Buffalo for the NCAA’s, it gave Larry Hodgson his first chance to watch his son coach a game. Larry suffers from dementia so the chance to return home was clearly emotional for the USF coach.
“I mean he took me in as a foster child, adopted me, gave me a second chance at life, believed in me, instilled important values, like discipline, hard work and the things that got me here,” Hodgson said. “He allowed me to chase my dreams, and is the most loving, caring, selfless man I’ve ever known. I just can’t wait to see him here in a couple days.”
Hodgson’s roots come across in his demeanor, which appears combative at times but always in support of his players and program. The best example came in this Field of 68 video where Hodgson revealed that some of his underclassmen were fielding overtures from other coaching staffs before the Bulls’ season was even over. That blatant tampering is seemingly commonplace in college basketball, but also against both NCAA and ethical standards.
It’s that type of competitiveness that clearly drew Napolillo to Hodgson. As Providence faltered at the start of the Big East season, losing several gut-wrenching close games, Napolillo no doubt continued what any good athletic director must always do: prepare for his next coach.
Speaking with local media last week, Napolillo stressed that he wanted a sitting college head coach who had navigated the transfer portal/NIL system that’s taken over college basketball in the last three years. He also knew he had a lot to offer prospective candidates.
“When you put all the factors together — greatest fans. Even in a challenging year, you’re still packing the AMP,” he said. “You talk about facilities. I’ll put this (PC’s practice) facility up against everybody. We support revenue share and (NIL) at the highest level. And we want to win.
“Father (Kenneth R.) Sicard, the board, the cabinet — they’re all in. They know how much this program means to the institution, what it means to our alumni and our students. This really is the window to our institution. We want to make sure we’re doing everything to be successful moving forward.”
Ryan Mela is one of several veterans new coach Bryan Hodgson will have to recruit to remain Friars
It’s that type of focus that every college that hopes to own a prayer of success in this sport must have. Anything short of the commitment to compete financially with facilities and NIL/Revenue share budget at an elite level will leave a coaching staff swimming upstream. That’s not how Providence views itself.
“I think you always want to maximize every dollar you have,” Napolillo said. “What I will say is we are blessed to have incredible donors. We are blessed to have incredible support from the institution. We’re going to do what it takes to be successful in this landscape.”
Of course having the financial wherewithal and deploying it correctly are two different things. One key piece of building a winning program is retention and keeping some of the Friars’ best players will be one of Hodgson’s first tasks. Star freshman Stefan Vaaks and injured point guard Daquan Davis announced earlier this week they intend to enter the transfer portal once it opens on April 7. Vaaks (15.8 ppg.) will certainly own significant, multi-million dollar value on the portal.
Other underclassmen who would attract major attention on the free market include Jamier Jones (11.9 ppg.), who like Vaaks was a Big East All-Freshman pick, redshirt freshman Jaylen Harrell and sophomore starters Oswin Erhunmwunse (6.9 ppg, 8.3 rebs) and Ryan Mela (9.9 ppg, 5.3 rebs).
So will Bryan Hodgson be able to navigate the shark-infested waters of the Big East? He’s the coach Providence believes is up to that challenge.
