PC looking for 2021 home
Friars basketball looking at options for home court
PROVIDENCE — At this stage, it’s about covering one’s bases and coming up with contingency plans that may or may not ever see the light of day in wake of the current pandemic.
In the case of the Providence College men’s basketball team, options on the table include playing games on-campus at Alumni Hall and Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena in the event that taking the court at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center proves not to be a feasible option for the 2020 portion of the 2020-21 schedule.
“Obviously we would love to be at The Dunk, but you’ve heard [Larry Lapore, the facility’s general manager] say that you probably can’t open it until the new year,” said PC athletic director Bob Driscoll.
Last week, Lapore made remarks on WPRO radio that pertained to the Friars’ home venue likely remaining offline for games during the months of November and December. It marked the first time Driscoll had heard The Dunk might be unavailable.
“We know we have to do what [Governor Gina Raimondo] says and we respect that, but at the same time, we want to play these games in a safe way,” said Driscoll when reached Friday. “We want to be able to provide an opportunity for our fans to see the games in a safe way.”
One possibility is to cross state lines and hoop it up at Mohegan Sun Arena, a venue that PC head coach Ed Cooley once referred to as “Dunkin’ Donuts Center South.”
On a Zoom call with the Friar community Thursday night, Driscoll mentioned the tires have been kicked with Mohegan Sun officials.
“They have a plan to help us. Otherwise, we have to play games on-campus and probably have to put less people in there for social distancing reasons,” said Driscoll. “We’re weighing all the options and we may have to do a combination of [Mohegan Sun, Alumni Hall, and The Dunk], but nothing has been decided. It’s simply conversations of possibility right now.”
All-time, the Friars have played six games at the 10,000-seat Mohegan Sun Arena – four as part of a two-day tournament, one standalone game, and one exhibition game. The most memorable outing on Uncasville, Conn. grounds took place in Nov. 2014 when LaDontae Henton torched Notre Dame for 38 points in a 75-74 win for Providence.
“They’ve been great to us. Plus with UConn coming back into the conference, we’re going to be playing our Women’s Basketball Big East Championships at Mohegan Sun moving forward. That’s going to probably sell out which will be great financially and exposure-wise,” said Driscoll. “It’s a great place to watch a game and you’ll still have all the amenities with the restaurants there, but we would certainly rather play downtown in our home arena. If we can’t, we’ve got to figure it out.”
Three years ago, the Friars announced they would open the 2017-18 season at Alumni Hall, which seats just 1,600. Demand definitely exceeded supply for a game against Houston Baptist with the athletic department using a priority-points system that helped determine who would be able to purchase tickets. Fast forward to 2020 where all decisions are being shaped by the coronavirus.
“It might have to be by donor levels, but we have an older fanbase. The question is whether or not how many folks will want to put themselves in that position if they feel vulnerable,” said Driscoll. “There may be less demand, but our season ticket renewals are already at 80 percent for next year. That’s pretty amazing. It will be a tough problem because our season ticket base is so high, but I hope people would understand that we have no control based on this pandemic. We’re going to try and be as equitable and as fair as possible.”
Switching gears, Driscoll says plans are in motion for Friar student-athletes to return to campus at some point during the summer months.
“We’re working a return-to-campus/return-to-competition plan that needs to be approved by the state,” said Driscoll. “The goal is to have some of our athletes back here during the month of July.”
The Maui Invitational that will feature Cooley’s team and is scheduled for the week of Thanksgiving is still a go, per Driscoll. So too is the Friar hockey team’s season-opening trip to Duluth, Minn. that’s on the docket for Oct. 9-10.
Health-wise, Driscoll says only one athletic department official (non-coach) tested positive for the coronavirus but has since recovered.
“All of our decisions will be based on the health and well-being of our student-athletes,” said Driscoll. “You see the statistics and college-age students are probably the most protected groups, but we’re still going to have testing and contact tracing. We’re going to do everything we can to protect them.”