Friars open against Houston Baptist at Alumni
Providence plays first game in on-campus facility since March 1972 tonight
PROVIDENCE – The signs that it’s finally game week for Ed Cooley’s Providence Friars are everywhere. The head coach also doesn’t want to make a big deal out of PC playing a regular-season game at Alumni Hall for the first time since March 1972.
“It’ll be a different environment and a different feel when the seats get pulled out, but it’s just like any other game. You’ll dial in quick once the newness wears off,” said Cooley in advance of Friday’s season-opener against Houston Baptist. “There’s definitely a different intensity and focus. Our guys are dialed in and excited to play.”
If you’re still clinging to the hope that you’ll land a ticket for a game with a distinct throwback vibe to it, don’t bother.
Ever since the news broke last fall that Providence would be one of the headlining teams for the 2017 2K Sports Classic coupled with the Dunkin’ Donuts Center being unavailable the same November weekend that college basketball’s regular season tips off due to the three-day Comic Con festivities, PC’s athletic department has walked a fine line between distributing tickets to select donors while also catering to the student body.
As you can imagine, the demand to attend a Friar hoop game in a facil- ity that for basketball games has a capacity of 1,854 was rather high. The atmosphere should be loud and electric – perhaps a little out of char- acter considering the Friars aren’t exactly hosting one of college basketball’s blue bloods.
“We’ll embrace the opportunity and make the most of it,” said Cooley.
Added senior Jalen Lindsey, “I’m excited to see the kind of environment this place is going to have.”
Since the Friars aren’t playing at The Dunk, the routine leading up to the 7 p.m. tipoff against Houston Baptist – nicknamed the Huskies and hailing from the Southland Conference – will be slightly different. Most notably, PC’s players didn’t stay at a downtown Providence hotel on Thursday night. After they’re done with classes on Friday, Lindsey and his teammates will head over to Alumni for the customary pregame shootaround.
“It’s about trying to keep it as normal as possible,” said Lindsey. “We’re not going to change a lot of things.”
Sophomore guard Alpha Diallo comes across as someone who appreciates the history of PC basketball and understands that the Friars haven’t always played home games at The Dunk.
“I know they haven’t played a game in here for 45 years,” said Diallo. “That will be good for some of our older fans to come back again.”
After a preseason that featured three public looks and supplied Cooley and his staff with ample opportunities to size up potential strengths and weaknesses, the only thing that shouldn’t be a concern is how the Friars’ game legs hold up in the early going of the regular season, which opens with four games in seven days.
“We know what we have to work on and continue to improve on and I know the things we do well,” said Cooley. “We can get up and down the floor so we want to continue to work on that.”
On the injury front, the Friars received some good news as Lindsey (knee) and Drew Edwards (back spams) returned to practice earlier this week. Lindsey was held out of all three preseason games while Edwards missed last Saturday’s game against New York’s Baruch College. Cooley said that both will be game-time decisions for Friday night.
“I’m feeling good. Friday will be more of a coach’s decision, but I feel a lot better,” said Lindsey.
Players to watch on Houston Baptist’s roster include two returning starters in 6-11 junior Josh Ibarra and 6-2 guard Braxton Bonds, who is the nephew of all-time Major League Baseball home run king Barry Bonds. Ibarra earned second-team all-conference honors last season after averaging 12 points and 7.2 rebounds.