Here is a new video uploaded by the PC Athletics office featuring Ed Cooley. He talks about growing up in Providence, his high school teammate and former Friar Abdul Abdullah, and his dream of coaching the Friars.
So he wants everyone in Rhody to attend a Friars game. What about us New Yorkers?
According to Zagsblog, Chris Obekpa hosted coaches from three schools on Sunday. Ed Cooley brought assistant coach Andre LaFleur to the visit which Obekpa’s assistant coach said went well for each school.
He takes the SAT Oct. 1, and cannot take any officials until.
“We spoke about possibly taking an unofficial to Providence,” Jaklitsch said. “We spoke to UCLA and Cincinnati about taking official visits out there once he gets his SAT and everything.”
I’m not sure why he is only taking the unofficial to PC at this point other than being able to schedule it before October 1st. Basically, the other big difference between official/unofficial is that in official visits the school gets to pay for all the expenses, but you can only do so many per recruit. Let’s hope he doesn’t think Greedy Peterson is still running things on visits.
OK, so we’ve been hearing tons of conflicting reports regarding the blockmaster / flat-top toting big man Nerlens Noel. So first it was mentioned he could potentially reclassify to 2012. No, he said himself there is no chance of going to 2012. Well, Paul Biancardi took a question in his chat today concerning Noel and the possibility of him going to the Friars.
John (Short Hills, NJ)
Good morning coach, thanks for taking my question. Is Ed Cooley and his staff’s securing of Kris Dunn & Ricardo Ledo the biggest news of the early recruiting season? With the backcourt now filled is there any chance for a PF or C to join the fray? Lastly, is there any way Nerlens Noel reclassifies to 2012 and winds up in Friartown? If not then how about in 2013?
Paul Biancardi (11:20 AM)
John, Go Friars. Without coaching a game, Ed Cooley has made the biggest splash in all of recruiting. To being in two top-30 talents in your first year on the job is outstanding. Dunn has NBA potential. There are whispers of Noel going into the Class of 2012, if that happens the Friars will be in the mix for the nation’s best shot-blocker
I like these whispers! Still, the Friars will need to shed a scholarship for him, but given the new coach and the uncertainty of playing time this season, a roster shuffle in any way is almost expected. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go clean my shorts.
In case you missed it last week, Ryan Gomes held a birthday party at a club in New Haven. For those of you who couldn’t make it or might have felt out of place at an NBA party in a da club, NEVIDEO has released a “trailer” video. Is there a full DVD coming out of the full party? Is it a part of a documentary that Ryan mentioned at the end of the video when thanking everyone? Who is that chick that said “I’m feelin’ nice right now”. I need answers. Anyways, the video has everything you would expect from a high profile party at a club, including chugging bottles of liquor, dancing, and gratuitous close up shots of ass.
As part of the countdown to…um, the delay of the season, ESPN and TrueHoop are ranking every NBA player and announcing them on Twitter 10 per day via the hashtag #NBARank
We asked 91 experts to rate each player on a 0-to-10 scale, in terms of “the current quality of each player.”
To decide which players to rank, we started with every player who played in the league last season, and then eliminated players who had signed overseas contracts that made them ineligible for the 2011-12 NBA season. Then we added the 60 members of the 2011 draft class, eliminating those not likely to play in the NBA by 2012. That left 500 players, according to our best information as of August 15.
They are already up to the 200 range, and announced that Ryan Gomes was ranked #234.
Every shred of data said Gomes played better at 4 than at 3. The Clips signed him to play 3 full-time. Guess what happened next. #NBArankless than a minute ago via web 
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John Hollinger
johnhollinger
UPDATE: Marshon Brooks was ranked #347 last month.
DraftExpress.com: adidas Nations: Top 2012 High School Prospects
One of the more physically gifted players in the 2012 class, Kris Dunn (#26 Scout, #10 Rivals, #29 ESPN) is a long and extremely athletic point guard with a good frame and great size for his position.
He excels in transition and beating opponents off the dribble at this level, showing a quick first step and nice ball-handling skills, and looking fairly unselfish finding the open man in drive and dish situations. Dunn’s perimeter shooting skills and decision making ability are still catching up with his physical tools, as he can be a bit wild or turnover prone at times and doesn’t have very much range on his jumper at the moment. Defensively, he has terrific upside with his size, length and quickness, something that will surely be harnessed by the coaching staff at Providence once he arrives on campus.
Players in Dunn’s mold—think Iman Shumpert—are highly coveted by NBA teams, and he’ll likely be tracked closely by scouts early in his college career.
Andy Katz of ESPN took a Friars question right off the bat in his SportsNation Chat this afternoon.
Ryan (Norwalk CT)I realize its early, but is Providence staring to turn the corner to hopefully be a contender in the big east once again?Andy Katz (3:07 PM)It’s early. And remember Indiana had a great recruiting class, but it hasn’t meant wins yet. But the first step toward turning the corner is getting players and Providence has started that under Ed Cooley.
Do you enjoy blocks, amazing defense, and flat top hair? Then CityLeagueHoopsTV has a video for you! Check out their new video of Friar target Nerlens Noel at the LeBron James Skills Academy.
via CityLeagueHoops
ESPN: Adam Finkelstein Recruiting Blog (Insider)
So yeah, Ricky Ledo didn’t show up for the first day of school at Notre Dame Prep. After that, it was “Dump All Over Ricky Day” on Twitter.
Because the 2010-2011 season was Ledo’s fourth year of high school, and Notre Dame Prep his fourth school in that time, sources were indicating as of Monday night that Ledo’s current plan was to pursue a GED and attempt to enroll at Providence potentially as soon as second semester of this year.
South Orange Juice: JP’s (Really Early) 2011 Big East Predictions, Part 1- The Bottom Feeders
The bottom of the bottom feeders! At least there is no way to underachieve!
Now to the obvious problem- Brooks did quite literally everything for the Friars last season, ranking among the top players in the nation in scoring at almost 25 PTS while also grabbing 7 REB, which led the team. Any time your starting 2-guard is your leading rebounder, you have an issue. And with no Brooks, this team suffers from a lack of talent.
College Fantasy Hoops Insider: Bold Predictions: Big East
Does anyone out there play Fantasy College Basketball? I created my own BIG EAST league back in the day to run with my friends, and it was pretty fun. I believe my top player was Carl Krauser (who now plays in the Virgin Islands apparently) . I didn’t win. Anyways, if you do play fantasy BIG EAST basketball a) Tell me where the heck you do this! and b) don’t draft Vincent Council too high because this site says he will be a bust.
However, looking past the surface numbers I see a few red flags. First, Keno Davis is gone. More specifically, his up tempo style of play that allowed the Friars to jack up shots with impunity is gone. Providence will be playing at a slower pace under new head coach Ed Cooley. With the fewer amount of possessions, he becomes less attractive.
Lastly, I should mention that bust is relative to where you draft him. Council can still be useful as he’ll have the ball in his hands a lot and should rack up assists, but based on his per game numbers from a year ago, he’ll probably be going in round one or round two of your draft. I don’t think his production this year will justify taking him that highly.
Friar Basketball: Post-Ledo Commitment Quick Hits
Mr. Jeff Goodman, you sir have been PWND
Goodman isn’t the first, nor will he be the last to raises questions about Ledo, and we can only wait to see how his career plays out at Providence, but pointing out his AAU teams’ struggles this July, while ignoring winning performances against some of the best competition in the country prior to this summer, seems like either a lack of research or something more disingenuous.
Providence.edu: Friar Athletics Town Hall Meeting
I hope Ed Cooley is well versed in the art of bringing back the dead, because Keno Davis slowly murdered the fan base over the last several years. This Town Hall Meeting is a great idea to bring those season ticket holders back. I just hope they will not be ZOMBIES.
WE WANT YOU BACK!
As a former season ticket holder, new men’s basketball Head Coach Ed Cooley and new men’s ice hockey coach Nate Leaman would like to share with you the vision of their respective programs in a “Town Hall Setting”
Please join us on Thursday, September 22nd at 6:00 p.m. in Alumni Hall’s Mullaney Gym. Each guest will have the opportunity to ask questions and tour all the updated Providence College Athletic Facilities. Beverages and light fare will be provided.
Providence Journal: Bill Reynolds: Football still calls the shots in college sports
I HATE college football.
So now we have the Big East looking to add more football schools — maybe up to as many as three more — which would give the conference 12 football schools and make the Big East a big, sprawling conference split philosophically between football and basketball. Common sense says it would inevitably split for good, leaving the Friars in what ostensibly would be a Catholic league.
So yeah, apparently dribbling, passing, and having amazing YouTube videos runs in the Gardner family. Here is a new mixtape by YAYAREAFINEST featuring Kiwi’s little brother Peewee Gardner. He is a junior (2013 class) and currently attending the same school Kiwi played at, Westwind Prep in Phoenix, Arizona. I have no idea if this little dude projects to be a BIG EAST player, but frankly I don’t care. Enjoy.
