Tournament or Bust: The Pressure Mounts in Year Three for Kim English

The Providence Friars are coming off of their worst season in 40 years, a time where the late great Prince's "When Doves Cry" was the top song and Apple released the Macintosh computer.

It can only get better...right? Right? At least that's what we all hope for, but hope is not a successful strategy.

The bottom line is that entering his third year in Friartown, Kim English must make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his head coaching career or else he very well will not be in the same position next season.

Looking at English's tenure from a macro view, the biggest strength by far has been his recruiting. The biggest one being Oswin Erhunmwunse (44th nationally) who was recently named to the preseason All-Big East third team in addition to the likes of Jamier Jones (43rd nationally) and Jaylen Harrell (80th nationally) who will take the court for the first time as Friars this season. Not to mention Ryan Mela who was an unranked nationally three-star recruit coming out of high school and was named to the Big East All-freshman team after last season.

In the transfer portal this offseason English was able to land Jason Edwards who averaged 17 points per game at Vanderbilt last season and was named to the preseason All-Big East second team. Additionally, Jaylin Sellers (UCF) and Duncan Powell (Georgia Tech) who was named the ACC's top sixth man and earned ACC all tournament second team honors.

It's one thing to recruit well, but completely another when it comes to putting the puzzle pieces of the roster together internally in time for competition against superior and conference opponents as PC had their worst conference record (6-14) in the past 13 seasons. An obvious reason being the inability to win on the road (only two road conference wins last season), but another big one being the inability to start fast against non-conference opponents and sustain leads (see 2024 Battle 4 Atlantis tournament). Not only this, but also the lack of size at the guard position and not enough production from the center position.

Unfortunately, Edwards is 6'1" which continues the trend of undersized guards but should be an electrifying scorer for Providence this season along with Sellers who thankfully presents more size (6'5") and was nearly a 16 ppg player at UCF during the 2023-24 season as his 2024-25 campaign was cut short after only three games due to a back injury. Friar fans should expect a high scoring and energetic backcourt between the two SEC and Big 12 transfers.

As for the center position, the hope is that Erhunmwunse can emerge himself as one of the best big men in the Big East. He certainly flashed that last season as he led the team in field goal percentage, rebounds, and blocks. Additionally, he ranked second in the Big East in blocks per game and third in offensive rebounding. Erhunmwunse's biggest strength certainly revolves around the rim both offensively and defensively, but if he can develop a consistent jump shot from outside the paint that would only take his game and team performance to the next level. A lot is certainly on the sophomore's plate, but this is exactly what he was brought into do as one of the biggest recruits in PC men's basketball history. To put it simply, this team will go as far as Edwards and Erhunmwunse can take them.

Reflecting on last year's roster, this year's roster is a complete makeover as only five players are returning (Erhunmwunse, Nilavan Daniels, Corey Floyd Jr., Rich Barron, and Mela) with 10 newcomers. Erhunmwunse and Mela have cemented themselves as the young cornerstones of the team, Floyd Jr. is coming off his best season as a Friar, Barron is a quality 3 and D player, and Daniels only appeared in six games last season. After this off-season's recruiting and portal classes, one can finally say that this team is English's roster from head to toe as the only lone player from the Ed Cooley era is Floyd Jr who is also the longest tenured Friar on the roster (RS Senior) as his leadership will pay massive dividends to the newcomers and younger players on the roster.

Looking at the schedule, PC faces four formidable opponents in their first 10 non-conference games in Virginia Tech, Colorado, Penn State, and Wisconsin with Colorado being the only away game which plays to the Friars' home court advantage. English is 17-10 in his non-conference coaching career. At an absolute minimum, Providence needs to walk away from the non-conference stretch with an 8-2 record for any sort of NCAA Tournament hopes.

As for the Big East, PC was selected to finish fourth in the preseason coaches' poll with 64 points trailing St. John's (97 points, seven first place votes), UConn (94 points, four first place votes), and Creighton (80 points). A fourth-place finish should give PC a berth in the NCAA Tournament and should be a proper expectation for the team as its a tournament or bust season for English and co.

Now, the doves aren't just crying - they're watching. Watching to see if Kim English can put the pieces together, silence the doubt, and lead Providence back to March. Because if he can't...well, we all know how the song goes: "Maybe you're just like my father - too bold. Maybe you're just like my mother - she's never satisfied." This season, satisfaction is the only acceptable outcome.