Jamier Jones and the Friars completed a season sweep of Creighton in Omaha Saturday
By KEVIN McNAMARA
If you own any sense of Providence Friar basketball history, or can flip through a media guide, you’d understand that it’s never wise to write off a team in January.
As things began to turn positive in the last few weeks for the 2026 Friars, my mind drifted back 30-plus years to a few seasons that unfolded somewhat similarly to this one. Back when Rick Barnes was the head coach, talented players like Michael Smith, Rob Phelps and Abdul Abdullah leading the Friars in 1993 and ’94. By late January in both of those campaigns, the Friar Faithful were out for blood. Calls for Barnes’ job were lighting up the Chuck Wilson radio show as Barnes’ defense-first teams dug serious holes in a Big East that took few prisoners.
Sound familiar, Friar Unfaithful? You know who you are, keyboard pirates. It’s all so easy to render a verdict after 10, 15, even 20 games in a college basketball season. But they do play 31 regular season games and the last 10 count just as much as the first dozen. That’s how it works social media monsters.
While the details are certainly not exact, the story of this season is quickly looking all too familiar if you were around back in those Barnes years. This Providence team, the one that coughed up too many tight games in December and January, has settled down, found a way to win the close ones in February and is entering March on a roll.
Barnes protege Kim English may not own a Friar history degree but he’s guiding a hot club as March arrives. PC won at Creighton Saturday, 79-76, for its third victory in a row and fifth in the last seven games. The Friars will be favored in their final two regular season games, at home vs. Marquette and at Georgetown. If they win both, they’d ride into Madison Square Garden on a serious heater entering the Big East Tournament.
Several PC Friar teams have saved their season with late-year rushes. The 1993 (NIT) and ’94 (Big East Tourney champs/NCAA) teams are chief examples
| Year | W-L Mid-Season | Streak | W-L Reg. Season |
| 1992-93 | 10-9 (3-8) | 6-1 | 16-10 (9-9) |
| 1993-94 | 12-9 (5-8) | 5-0 | 17-9 (10-8) |
| 2025-26 | 9-13 (2-9) | 5-2, 2 gms remain | ??? |
So what’s happened with this Providence team? In truth the Friars have not had to beat a strong, Top 50 team during this improved play but all five wins have come against Top 100 Kenpom team and two came on the road. Most importantly, the late-game bounces that seemingly always went the opponent’s way earlier in the season are now dribbling into PC’s hands. The Friars can count an overtime win over Butler and one possession (3 points) wins over DePaul and Creighton in this run and while late-game execution hasn’t been flawless, it is vastly improved.
“We talked about it after (the loss to) St. John’s and all we’ve been focusing on is trying to win four straight games,” English said. “I told the guys that we need to see if we can win four Big East games in a row. That’s what you’ve got to do to win a tournament championship. We’ve done three (in a row). Opportunity for four (Wednesday vs. Marquette) so we’re just focused on Marquette.”
English added that his team has lived in tight-game situations most of this season and remained focused on process and not the win/loss record.
“I’ve said it all year- despite our losses we’ve been right there,” English said. “When people overreact to results you can tell they don’t know basketball. Rudyard Kipling has a great saying, ‘if you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same.’ It’s a zero-sum game, you win or you lose but you have to look at it at a micro level. It’s really much more than just winning or losing. Anyone with a mind or sense for the game could see that our team has been a lot better than some of the outcomes that we’ve had.”
The Friars continue to deal with injuries and absences to their lineups but they’ve flourished anyways. Stefan Vaaks did not make the trip to Omaha due to a high temperature and the flu. Corey Floyd remains sidelined by a hamstring injury. Duncan Powell sat out the final game of his suspension.
But Jaylin Sellers keeps on shining. He led the Friars to this win by making one clutch shot after another on his way to 27 points. His biggest bucket came after PC had frittered a 77-71 lead with 1:11 left down to 77-76 with 40 seconds left. That’s when English called a timeout to settle his group down and focus on the final possessions.
This time Sellers drove the ball into the teeth of the defense, made a nice, patient move, and hit a driving layup with 15 seconds on the clock. PC’s defense then stuck on Creighton shooter Josh Dix during a missed 3-pointer, didn’t crack when Austin Swartz grabbed the rebound and contested a 3-pointer by Swartz that missed at the buzzer.
Sellers is averaging 24.0 points a game over PC’s 5-2 run. The return of guard Jason Edwards (18 points) in four of those five wins was vital, especially with Vaaks missing the last two contests. Ryan Mela added 11 points and 6 boards, while Oswin Erhunmwunse went for 8 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks. Toss in Jamier Jones’s 8 points and the starting five totaled all but six of Providence’s points.
There is a good chance that Vaaks, Powell and maybe even Floyd are all available for the Marquette game. The Friars could use the added depth but their minutes can’t upset the groove that Sellers is in, for example.
After all, this isn’t the time to cool off a hot streak.
