College hoops in RI: With the season about to tip off, here's what you need to know
The leaves are falling, and you'll soon be handing out Halloween candy — two sure signs that college basketball season can only be a few days away. Rhode Island's Division I programs all have different stories to tell as the season tips off in early November, and The Providence Journal's college hoops expert Bill Koch has been busy catching us up on all the hardwood happenings in RI.
Tuesday marked the last Media Day event — the annual Big East shindig at New York's Madison Square Garden — so it's a good time to look back on the torrent of college hoops news over the past few weeks.
Here's a Rhode Island-themed college basketball primer as the season is about get underway:
Friar's won't put a lot of stock into Big East predictions
Will the Providence Friars men's basketball team under new coach Kim English surprise us this season, after being picked to finish 7th in the Big East?
“It’s a great league,” Providence's new coach, Kim English said. “I think it’s the best league in the country. I think it’s remarkable what Dave Gavitt built a long time ago.”
Providence basketball out to prove predictions wrong; Here's where Friars were picked
This is the first season since 2010 that Ed Cooley is not leading the Providence men's team. What did he say about jumping ship to Georgetown after last season?
Was there room for a feeling of collegiality at this Big East Media Day?
It was all business at Madison Square Garden. It’s likely to be a different scene in three short months when Providence hosts Georgetown in an expected men’s basketball grudge match. Ed Cooley’s departure from the Friars to the Hoyas was unprecedented. Providence fans are still sizzling at the thought of losing their coach to a conference rival.
Ex-Providence basketball coach Ed Cooley, now at Georgetown, refuses to live at the past
The Providence women's basketball team has a new coach, too
The Friars women decided to go in a different direction and Jim Crowley returned to his previous home at St. Bonaventure. Erin Batth was hired off the staff at Michigan and brought a promise of fresh energy.
Batth’s attempt to lift Providence’s fortunes isn’t expected to have an immediate payoff. The Friars were picked ninth by the coaches at Big East Media Day, which took over Madison Square Garden on this fall Tuesday.
Here's why she thinks she can change that.
It won’t just be the Friars on the floor who will be running a Big East men’s basketball gauntlet in the upcoming 2023-24 season. New Coach Kim English will be under the microscope.
It'll be his first year coaching in Providence and his 64th game as a head coach.
English will face the stiffest nightly challenge of his career after two years at George Mason.
Pitino’s return to the league with St. John’s after a successful stint at Iona just added to the existing iron. Seven coaches have reached at least the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament and four have advanced to the Final Four. Dan Hurley is coming off a first national championship at Connecticut, the third time in the last seven editions of March Madness a team from the league has cut down the nets.
Where will Providence's Kim English stand among the many veteran Big East coaches?
One of the best college basketball players in the nation comes from Cumberland
Much more is expected of Cumberland native Tyler Kolek and his Marquette teammates entering this 2023-24 season. That's because they rose from relative obscurity. Then, Kolek emerged as a national star and was named the league’s Player of the Year. The Golden Eagles swept regular-season and tournament titles while rolling into the NCAA Tournament.
This year, the spotlights on him and the Golden Eagles. Can they do it again?
Hopes are high for Marquette's Tyler Kolek. Here's what the Cumberland native had to say.
Can the Big East keep its men's basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden?
The Big East conference playoffs have been a staple at the iconic Madison Square Garden for more than 40 years. Will that New York City tradition continue?
What about URI Rams Basketball Team?
Archie Miller believes his University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team has the needed talent to be competitive in the Atlantic 10. His fellow head coaches and a sampling of league media members think otherwise.
Who's right?
Are the Rams the second-worst team in the league?
The Rams aren’t the second-worst team in the league, right? That assumes no improvement from last year’s product, which was anemic offensively and short of physicality in the frontcourt.
If that’s the case — if URI doesn’t take a meaningful step forward in its second season under Archie Miller — then we have a larger problem.
Can the Atlantic 10 get more teams to March Madness this year?
March Madness was destined to become a solo pursuit for one of its men’s basketball teams in 2022-23. Poor results in nonconference action all but sealed the league’s fate long before that critical Sunday arrived.
Here's why coaches think that will change this season.
There are lots of RI connections in the Atlantic 10 this season
Player movement being what it is these days in college basketball, it’s worth at least a cursory look at every conference media day for some old friends.
The Atlantic 10 men featured multiple hits in that category on Tuesday morning. Barclays Center was a small world of old connections renewed, including University of Rhode Island coach Archie Miller catching up with his former colleagues at Dayton.
Let’s touch on a few other story lines involving past ties to the state or its four men’s programs.
More: There are lots of RI connections in the Atlantic 10 this season
She’s built the University of Rhode Island women from rubble to contender
Coaching with USA Basketball sent her to Mongolia, Hungary and Chile. You might think coach Tammi Reiss entered the buildup to the 2023-24 season feeling a touch fatigued.
“This is a competitive environment,” Reiss said. “You’ve got to earn everything you get. They do not give it to you.”
More: Rhode Island women's basketball team opens its season with a Homecoming Hoopfest
Has the University of Rhode Island become something of a women’s basketball destination?
Such a suggestion even five years ago would have been laughable. It’s a lot less funny entering 2023-24 — particularly for the opponents.
The Rams are off consecutive appearances in the WNIT and thirsty for more. They shared an Atlantic 10 regular season championship in 2022-23, a first for the program. Tammi Reiss is now a two-time League Coach of the Year and is signed to a long-term contract extension.
“These people are winners,” graduate transfer guard Dee Dee Davis said.
More: How does the URI women's basketball program build on its success? Keep winning
Bryant's head coach was placed on leave, so who's leading the Bulldogs
Grasso was placed on leave by the school in early October. No reason was given in the short release, which was sent via text message to select media members. He was subsequently arrested by the North Smithfield police for leaving the scene of an accident and is scheduled to be arraigned next week.
Phil Martelli Jr. has been elevated from associate head coach to acting head coach.
More: With Jared Grasso out, Bryant basketball coach Phil Martelli Jr. moves Bulldogs forward. Here's how.
Despite the coaching drama, Bryant could have a stellar season
A skid to end last season, the loss of a headlining player and a head coach on a leave of absence hasn’t shaken the faith of America East coaches.
Bryant’s men are expected to play at or near the top of the league in 2023-24. The Bulldogs were selected third in the conference’s preseason poll. Here's why:
Read More: Despite Jared Grasso's absence, Bryant basketball picked 3rd in America East this season
Bryant has a new women's basketball coach. What to know headed into the season.
Lynne-Ann Kokoski won’t start at the bottom, but there’s plenty of room to climb.
That’s the prediction of America East women’s basketball coaches. The league’s preseason poll was released Thursday morning, and Kokoski has some significant work to do while debuting at the helm of her alma mater.
Read More: Lynne-Ann Kokoski embarks on 1st season as Bryant women's basketball coach. Here's her plan.
'Expectations are high' for Brown men's basketball team
It’s been slightly more than seven months since Brown fell to Yale with a trip to the Ivy League tournament on the line. The Bears return a host of talented performers from that group and will be healthier than at the close of 2022-23. They swept all three games during a summer trip to France and flashed the upside that should have them competing to finish in the conference’s top half.
Read More: 'Expectations are high' for Brown men's basketball team
Will the Brown men's basketball team finally reach the postseason?
It’s not just an internal goal anymore. After this week, it’s also an external expectation.
Brown’s pursuit of a men’s basketball berth in Ivy Madness has stretched from the event’s founding ahead of the 2016-17 season. Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Penn and Harvard have gobbled up all 24 available bids over six editions, and the Bears could finally wind up crashing the party at the close of this 2023-24 season.
Read More: Will the Brown men's basketball team finally reach the postseason? That's the expectation
After several lean seasons, Brown women's basketball hopes to continue trending up
The conversations early in sideline tenures generally revolve around culture, effort, practice habits — traits that are assumed within winning programs and often in short supply among strugglers.
The Bears took a step forward last season and are expected to do so again in 2023-24. Brown was selected sixth in the Ivy League women’s poll released last week, but that’s more a reflection of conference strength than anything else.
More: After several lean seasons, Brown women's basketball hopes to continue trending up
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: College basketball primer: Everything to know about PC, URI, Bryant and Brown
