Hopkins, Friars face No. 6 Kentucky
First-team all-conference forward faces former teammates Friday
PROVIDENCE – As Bryce Hopkins and his Providence teammates anxiously awaited their NCAA Tournament assignment, the star forward noticed that his former school had also yet to hear its name called.
Sure enough, the Friars landed Kentucky as a dance partner, a development that PC head coach Ed Cooley dubbed as a made-for-television event. Awarded a No. 11 seed in the East Region, Providence gets to make the relatively short trek to Greensboro, North Carolina for a Friday matchup against John Calipari’s sixth-seeded Wildcats.
For Hopkins, the matchup against one of college basketball’s blue bloods features a juicy subplot. The sophomore selected Kentucky coming out of high school but ended up seeing very little playing time during his lone season at the SEC program (6.6 minutes per game during the 2021-22 season). His decision to enter the transfer portal helped result in a fresh start that Hopkins took full advantage of, yet he freely admitted that he’s looking forward to the opportunity to go up against his former team.
“Both names popped up … God works in mysterious ways,” said Hopkins. “Can’t wait to prepare for them. There’s going to be a lot of emotions in that game.”
Before the Field of 68 was unveiled, Cooley told Hopkins that he had a feeling that PC would be matched up with Kentucky. For the coach, the NCAA bid marks the seventh time in his 12 seasons at Providence that the Friars have qualified for the Big Dance. Meeting the media, Cooley noted that it would have been eight trips to the NCAA Tournament had the coronavirus pandemic not resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 installment of March Madness.
“I’m excited for our school. I’m excited for our state. We didn’t finish the way we wanted, but our body of work, the men deserve it,” said Cooley, referring to his team’s 21-11 overall record and the struggles that ensued leading up to Selection Sunday (three straight losses).
The news that the Friars were placed in the East bracket with the regional semifinals and finals taking place at the familiar setting of Madison Square Garden came one day after all sorts of rumors were bandied about concerning Cooley and the coaching vacancy at Georgetown.
“I’m concerned about my team and Kentucky. That’s all I know,” said Cooley. “I don’t think it’s a distraction. It’s part of the business. It’s part of what we deal with as coaches. We’re sought after every single year, but I’m the Providence College coach and Providence College is playing Kentucky.”