The Sharktown Era Begins: Why Bryan Hodgson Is a Home Run Hire for Providence

The Providence Friars have their 17th men's basketball coach in school and program history.

Per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports Network, on Sunday Bryan Hodgson finalized a deal to be the next head coach in Friartown.

Shark infested waters indeed, as Athletic Director Steve Napolillo and President Father Sicard went shark hunting and came away with the great white one in Hodgson. After Josh Schertz signed an extension with Saint Louis, Hodgson was the best head coach on the market. The Providence brain trust casted a wide net and came away with the biggest fish in the sea.

I have been a critic and doubter of Napolillo, but he shut me up and ended the doubt that I had for him with this hire. This one is a home run hire, more to come on that shortly.

If there is one thing that Napolillo has done a great job of since he has taken over as AD, it's been fundraising. Even with English's buyout of $8M, Providence is still expected to have $10M to spend on next seasons roster. Quite simply put, this hire does not happen if it was not for Napolillo's elite ability to raise money and the donors and board of trustees willing to pay up and do whatever it took to land Hodgson. Huge credit to Napolillo and co. for being able to get this hire done.

With his job and legacy as Providence AD on the line, Napolillo did everything in his power to secure Hodgson. He easily could have went the easy route and hired the floor hire in Herb Sendek in order to save his job, but instead he decided to double down on himself and hire the coach who offers more upside and a higher ceiling for the wellbeing and benefit of the program and all parties invested in PC men's basketball. That is selflessness, and deserves a ton of credit, props, and recognition. A hat tip and a bow to you Mr. Napolillo, I was wrong and will happily eat my words.

Diving deeper into this, Napolillo's first hire in English obviously didn't work out. He hired an unexperienced, young head coach who was simply not made to coach in a conference with veterans like Rick Pitino, Dan Hurley, etc. and to take the leap from the Atlantic 10 to the Big East. You can say the same thing about Hodgson, who is coming from the American Athletic Conference. However, Hodgson has a different spin on it which is where we get into what I love about the hire.

While English has two more years of head coaching experience under his belt, he only has 12 more wins than Hodgson. Here is the comparison:

English:

• 2021-2022: George Mason (14-16)
• 2022-2023: George Mason (20-13)
• 2023-2024: Providence (21-14) - NIT First Round
• 2024-2025: Providence (12-20)
• 2025-2026: Providence (15-18)

Hodgson:

• 2023-2024: Arkansas State (20-17) - CBI Semifinals
• 2024-2025: Arkansas State (25-11) - NIT Second Round
• 2025-2026: South Florida (25-9) - NCAA Division I Round of 64

In the two previous stops that Hodgson has been at, he has elevated the standard of each program very quickly. At Arkansas State, the Red Wolves record for most wins in a season was 20 before Hodgson took over. Once he got there, not only was that record tied in his first season, but it was broken in his second season as Hodgson set the new bar for wins at 25 and won the program their first conference championship in school history.

In his lone and only year at South Florida, Hodgson delivered a conference regular season championship for the second time in program history and conference tournament championship season for the first time in program history while tying the record for number of wins in a season at 25.

Bryan Hodgson is a flat-out winner and program elevator everywhere he's been and has done it quickly too. That is what should excite Friar fans the most with this hire in my opinion.

Getting into his coaching and playing style, Hodgson comes from the Nate Oats tree who is the current head coach at Alabama and was with Hodgson at Buffalo from 2015-2019 and 2019-2023. Oats teams are all about efficient and high scoring offenses that shoot the three ball and crash the offensive glass at a high rate.

Here are Hodgson's teams in points per game, three-point percentage, and total rebounds per game the past three seasons:

2023-2024: Arkansas State

• Points per game: 40th (78.8 ppg)
• Three-point percentage: 154th (34.4%)
• Rebounds per game: 41st (38.4 rpg)

2024-2025: Arkansas State

• Points per game: 50th (78.7 ppg)
• Three-point percentage: 259th (32.2%)
• Rebounds per game: 6th (40.4 rpg)

2025-2026: South Florida

• Points per game: 6th (86.8 ppg)
• Three-point percentage: 255th (32.5%)
• Rebounds per game: 4th (42.3 rpg)

What stands out is points per game being top 50 in the country and rebounding being top 40 in the country as well with plenty of upside and potential from there for both. Three-point percentage does not strike out as much as they are certainly lower, but I think you can live with an above 30% three-point shooting team as long as the rebounds and points per game are there which they obviously are.

On the defensive side of the ball, Hodgson's teams have ranked as the 304th (Arkansas State 2023-2024, 77.0 points per game), 109th (Arkansas State 2024-2025, 70.5 points per game), and 230th (South Florida 2025-2026, 76.5 points per game) in the country. Certainly, work to be done in this department, but it sure does beat Providence's 356th (84.0 points per game) this past season. Just think about how many close games we had and if some to the majority of them went our way if we had better defense, don't even get me started.

Out of all of these statistics, what makes me the most confident and optimistic by far has to be rebounding. Sure, points and three pointers are fun, but rebounding tells a story in a way that points and three pointers do not. Unlike points and three pointers, rebounding is all about effort and self-sacrifice. In other words, if you have a high effort and high self sacrifice you are willing to do whatever it takes and put your body on the line for the wellbeing of your team and coaching staff. This is playing for your head coach, as it certainly seems that Hodgson is a player's coach in this respect as his teams have finished top six in this metric over the past two seasons.

Basketball and the court aside, Hodgson's story is one that the Providence community and city of Providence will deeply resonate with. By the age of two, Hodgson was placed in foster care which he credits was saving his life. Foster parents Larry and Rebecca Hodgson adopted Brian before his third birthday. Hodgson has had to tirelessly work for everything he has earned in his life through hard work, dedication, blue collarless, and toughness. This will be music to the ears of Providence fans, the city, and community as the personal, personality, and culture sides of this hire seem to be a perfect match.

Steve Napolillo had to hire a coach with a proven track record of winning who also brings upside to the table, Bryan Hodgson is that exact coach. Now the pressure falls on Hodgson and his staff to deliver Providence to new heights and be the best shark left in the water.

Welcome to Sharktown folks, the Bryan Hodgson era has officially begun.