Updated: Say What… GREEDY GONE???

No this is not a joke, Greedy Peterson is no longer a Friar.  Kevin McNamara wrote in the ProJo earlier today that Coach Keno has dismissed Greedy from the team for a violation of team rules. The incident involved an occurrence in a dorm room with the 15 year old BABC AAU team.  The Boston Amateur Basketball Club is sending two players in Gerard Coleman and Ron Giplaye to Providence this year.  The director of there program voiced his concerns about the programs connection to Providence and said that both Gerard and Ron were disturbed by the recent events in Providence, but said that hopefully his guys can help “cleanse” the PC program.  Coach Davis had this to say in the school’s official release.

“Jamine Peterson has been dismissed from the men’s basketball team for a violation of team rules.  Jamine had a productive season in 2009-10.  However,regardless of his athletic accomplishments, it is essential to the integrity of the program that every student-athlete meets the high standards and expectations we have at Providence College.”

Greedy was without a doubt the standout on last year’s team.  He averaged 19.6 point per game and 10.2 rebounds per game, making him the first Friar to average a double-double in well over a decade.  He extended big men with his three point range and created a strong presence down low.

The move comes on the heels of the incident concerning James Still and Johnnie Lacy back in April.  Coach Keno has come under significant heat from critics and even former players (Kyle Wright) for the lack of discipline in the program.  Once again it is unclear at this time what Greedy did that was in violation; however, the recent occurances probably played an impact in the dismissal of the teams best player, and one of the up and coming players in the BIG EAST.

So wow.  This one hasn’t completely set in just yet.  Wow!  This comes as a real big surprise.  There has been some chatter in the last couple days that Greedy might have been on the way out, but us here at PFB honestly, and quite wrongly dismissed it as nothing more than a rumor.  Shame on us, but can you completely blame us, where did this even come from!?  The school hasn’t said what rules Greedy violated, not to be unethical here, but you have to think that it must have been pretty serious to kick out a player who averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds and is one of the up and coming players in the BIG EAST.  Then again, this comes on the heels of the James Still/Johnnie Lacy incident in April.  Coach Keno has come under pressure for the lack of discipline on the team, and the school has taken some heat as well, so maybe that played a role.  Either way it has been a tough few months on Coach Keno, the team, and the school.

So in a year when only three seniors were on the team, we have seen 7 players go, only two of them seniors (Sharaud and BMac).  The ‘natural’ departure of Sharaud hurt, but none of the others ones really were too bad; that is until Greedy was removed.  For those of you who follow the recruiting game on any level you know there is a lot of reason to be optimistic about the program, but this seems to be a step back, at least on the court.  We were looking at a Greedy, Bilal big game with some decent young support coming in.  Now we are left with Bilal and Ray Hall as the only veteran bigs.  We love Ray, but he is not a full game player, and we are all familiar with Bilal’s foul problems.  That leaves freshmen Kadeem, Brise, and Ron to step into that role.  We assumed that either Brice or Ron would red shirt, and that still may be the case, but it would make for a very thin lineup down low.  That said, however, look for PC to try and sign another big soon.  Kevin Noreen has been getting a lot of looks, but has also been recruited hard by other schools. Even with Noreen we have become an incredibly young team, with no juniors and only two seniors. But we are getting ahead of ourselves here.

Greedy will be missed.  We are well aware that there are some people out there who might be happy, what with Greedy’s nonexistent defense and all, but there were more positives that negatives.  Greedy was a student body favorite.  He excited the crowd, and even gave the team some exposure with his out of the gym dunks and Sports Center plays.  He was an offensive power and did more good than bad on the court.  He will leave a big hole that we thought was going to be solidly filled for the next two years.  Off the court it is difficult to say too much because we don’t know what rules Greedy violated, but to some extent you have to be happy that the school is cracking down and making the necessary steps to ensure that the reputation of Providence College and the PC Basketball team isn’t damaged any further.  This clearly does not help the on the court progress for next season, but it may help with the infrastructure of the program and its ‘cleansing.’

Like we said this is quite a surprise and we aren’t sure quite how to react to it or what to make of it right yet, but once it settles we will return to the subject.  In the mean time we will be looking for any new developments and we will try to stay up to date with the possibility of a new recruit coming in to fill up the hole.  So for now, we wish Greedy well in whatever is in his future, and hopefully we don’t lose any more players before next season.

Housekeeping

It is finals week and it has been a little difficult for us to get posts up but there aresome relevant things happening.  Instead of waiting to create a longer post on what is essential old news we thought that we would just give a few bullets about what is going on.

1. If you didn’t already see, Tim Welsh resigned as the Head Coach of Hofstra.  He made it just about a month and never coached a game.  It really is a shame that he blew a chance at coaching.  Hopefully he can get himself together, learns from this terrible mistake, and has success is the future.  Hofstra has announced that assistant Mo Cassara to head coach.

2. Our recruiting page was a disgrace.  So we have been updating it.  It is just about done now.  It is mostly just a list of who is being targeted, but does have some write ups for the more relevant players.  We like to follow recruiting here, but by no means are we experts.  The page is more for the casual fan interested in the future of PC Basketball.  So please take a look and see what you think.  We will try to be much better about updating this off-season.

3. Speaking of recruiting a big time sophomore recruit is on campus today according to his facebook.  6’9″ Khem Birch will be on campus.  He is ranked as the 19th best player in his class, and he is the real deal folks.  He would be a huge score if we were able to land him.  So if you see him make sure you let him know Providence is the place to be.

4. Sticking with the recruiting, Providence is hoping to land center Kevin Noreen.  Noreen had originally committed to Boston College, but after the firing of Al Skinner, he reopened his recruitment.  Now he continues to be recruited by Boston College, and is getting strong looks from Indiana.  Noreen was on campus several days ago.

5. Last note on recruiting.  If you haven’t already seen, Friar Basketball: PC Hoops for All has added game film to their site.  They have film from the Providence Jamfest which had some PC prospects playing.  It is lengthy, but if you have some time you should take a peek.  Also there is a good video of Naadir Tharpe that we definitely recommend watching.

6. Lastly, keep a close eye on Big Ten expansion.  We plan on doing a much bigger post on this later, but Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers, and UConn are all possibilities to leave the BIG EAST.

Tim Welsh Arrested for DWI

About a month after being named the Hofstra Pride’s new coach, formerFriar coach, Tim Welsh, was arrested for

CBS

DWI. Early this morning Welsh was stopped by a police car in Levittown (Long Island), NY.  He was given a Breathalyzer and allegedly blew a 0.18.  Hofstra University has already taken action:

“We have learned through media reports of the charges against Mr. Welsh.  Effective immediately, he has been suspended without pay, while the University investigates the charges against him.”

As this story is relatively new, these are the only major developments as of yet, but we will try to stay updated with the ultimate action the University will take.

Ahhh, you never like hearing about a story like this.  It really is too bad.  We were happy for Tim Welsh, we had a good little run as an analyst, but then it seemed like he was going to settle into a good fit at Hofstra.  Not so much.  Not even a month on the job and this happens.  It’s disappointing.  We aren’t about to get all preachy about drunk driving, but there is clearing no place for it ever, and that’s all we have to say about it.

Similar situations have hurt other college coaches in recent memory, it will be interesting to see what Hofstra’s ultimate disciplinary action is.  You do have to give the University credit for taking swift action in the suspension though.

We really do hope it works out for Time Welsh at Hofstra, but he has just made for a very difficult start.  Hopefully he gets his stuff together, and doesn’t make any more bonehead moves like driving drunk.  But after he is disciplined by the school and by the law, we hope he can have success as a basketball coach.

Joe Young: ESPN Rise All-American

Joe Young has surfaced once again with yet another honor.  Joe Young has been named to the2010 ESPN Rise All-American First Team. Young is one of twenty high school players who made the team.  Young adds this award to his Gatorade State Player of the Year Award (Texas), a state championship, and other MVP awards.  Besides his honors, the 6’3″ guard averaged 27.5 points, 4.4 steals, 4.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game this season.

If you weren’t already excited about Joe Young joining the Friars, than start to get excited.  The kid appears to be the real deal.  Gerard Coleman has been deemed the star of our recruiting class, as he should, but Joe Young is not very far behind him.  He continues to impress and has only improved since he was re-ranked into the ESPN Top 100 at #99.  Our bet is that when the players are re-ranked again he will be much higher than 99.  We have said it so many times before, but if Joe Young is half the shooter people say he is than we cannot wait for him to get to campus and thrive in the 3-Happy offense we run.  Also if you haven’t seen it check out the video profile of Young below.

Keno Davis Responds

If you haven’t already seen it, the latest edition of the COWL came out on Thursday.  The cover

Dan Nieto, COWL

story was, Coach Reacts to Players’ Transgressions. The link is posted, but we will give some of the highlights here.  Coach Keno had this to say about the incident:

“My first reaction was concern.  Concern for the individual that was on the receiving end of this incident and it continues to be that first and foremost. In the midst of this tragedy, my emotions have become an array of disappointment, frustration, and now it’s more of self-reflection for myself, the coaching staff, and the team.”

We thought it was interesting that Coach Keno also went on to address Kyle Wright’s facebook note.  Coach Keno said this to the COWL:

“I don’t have anything negative to say about Kyle Wright.  I wish him the best and hope that he has a bright future ahead of him. But I will say in regards to what Kyle and others have said, we are looking at the way we handle our business and we’re always trying to improve. I don’t want the public perception of Providence College Basketball and the college as a whole to be marked by the unfortunate actions of a few team members. We will try to do the best we can moving forward and try to regain the trust of the fans and the people of Rhode Island.”

Here’s the deal.  Coach Keno has been catching a lot of heat for this whole incident.  People admit that he can not be responsible for everything his players do, as he is not the babysitter; however, people are really getting on him for his recruiting.  You could debate who has been brought in in Keno’s only class to arrive on campus as of yet, and whether they should be here or not, but this is what we think.

In basketball there are plenty of marginal people that are awarded scholarships.  That doesn’t make it right but anybody who follows college basketball just a little bit knows that.  Just look around at all the bad that happened last season in the BIG EAST.  West Virginia, and Catholic universities Seton Hall and Villanova all had notable problems.  Just recently problems popped up at St. John’s.  Nationally, Kansas, Tennessee, and many other schools had problems that arose during the season.  It would be great if you could get Academic All-Americans, who are great kids, and great basketball players but that is just not the way it works.  Even Duke doesn’t always get that.  When you recruit a kid you can only know him to a certain extent.  It would be great if you knew his entire history, but you can’t.  You have to go on what his coaches say.  What his mentors say, and what those around the kid say.  And look back and check Johnnie Lacy’s and James Still’s criminal records and get back to us with what you find.  Neither one was a particularly great student, but that is certainly no indicator to a coach that they are going to senselessly beat up another student.

Don’t mistake us for in anyway trying to defend Lacy or Still.  And we aren’t giving Keno free pass either, but we think all things considered he is not handling the situation poorly.  He has just finished his third year as a head coach, and this is a difficult thing to deal with.  We think he acknowledges that there are some issues in the program and it seems like he is going to try his best to address them.  But for people like Kyle Wright and Jim Donaldson to shift so much of the blame to Keno is a little bit much for our liking.

We are thrilled that Joe Young, Gerard Coleman, Ron Giplaye, and Naadir Tharpe have all signed on with Providence College, but we also hope they are good people and do nothing even remotely similar to what happened earlier this week.  And give Coach Keno a chance.  Let the man make changes and improve the program before you throw him under the bus. (And this is not a response to the article in the COWL which we thought was well written and gave the facts, but more to talk around campus and the always insightful commentary of Jim Donaldson…)

Kyle Wright Speaks Out

We were a little slow in seeing this, but it looks like former player Kyle Wright has written a facebook note shedding some light on the events that happened early Monday morning.  In the note Wright essentially blames Coach Keno and his staff for a lack of structure and discipline within the team, which allowed for the horrible events that took place to happen.  Take a look at it for yourself and see what you think…

What providence friar fans and people around the school fail to realize is how this horrible event was even able to take place. Why were these players comfortable enough to be out on a sunday night doing what they please. The answer is the team and organization they are a part of. Keno Davis from day 1 has established no type of order within his team. He has distanced himself from his players and made it clear that he is not concerned with actions taken off of the basketball court. The lack of structure, leadership, and any type of foundation created an environment in which his players felt as though they were capable of getting away with anything. I know this first hand because I was apart of this team until I quit. It is sad that something like this had to even occur when any type of stable structure and leadership from the HEAD COACH would have sufficed. This Providence coaching staff is not preparing these boys to take on the world and become men, rather they are creating an environments which fosters childish behavior and encourages a lack of respect. These boys came to Providence Colle[g]e to improve as basketball players, students, and become men and now they may be leaving as felons. With that said I am a firm believer in second chances and hopefully no one involved with this incident will be scarred for life. My best wishes go out to Yerkin Abdrakhmanov and his family.

So we would really like to know what readers think about this.  We read it trying to keep in mind that Kyle had a tough season where he didn’t get the playing time he wanted, and didn’t make too much of the limited time he was given.  He is coming from the point of view of somebody who decided to leave the team and the school some time ago.  But this seems a lot like redirecting the blame.  We think that Coach Keno and his staff definately had some short comings and there are things that need to be adjusted within the program, but to blame the incident on the Keno Davis is crazy and irresponsible.  The facts are Johnnie Lacy and James Still made about as bad a decision as you can make.  They were out when they shouldn’t have been, and did something totally inexcusable.  We understand that Kyle is not happy with the team and the coaches, and that as a teammate he will cut his teammates a little slack, but this is a little much in our opinion.  We agree that Lacy and Still came to PC to play basketball, participate as students, and become men, but the fact that they left as felons is 100% there own fault.

Bracketology!?

Well the events of the past week, I think it would do us some good to mention something else besides the atrocious actions that took place on Monday morning.  So instead of  that, we thought we might talk about something possibly even more ridiculous than the garbage that Jim Donaldson over at the ProJo throws together (actually we don’t think it gets too much more ridiculous than that).  So how about some Bracketology!?  Sure it is only April, but why not.  Earlier Joe Lunardi came out with his first bracket, but in the spirit of the almost imminent 96-team Field he also crafted a bracket for 96.  And while PC didn’t make the 64-team version, we did make it into the field of 96 as one of Joe Lunardi’s Last Four In.  So there is that.  According to Joe, we would be a #21 and we would take on #12 North Carolina.

So for the most part we have been against the whole NCAA expansion.  Yes, we would be able to play in the tournament, us and 12 other BIG EAST teams, but for us it would seriously devalue the whole thing.  Part of the allure of the NCAA every year is the achievement of making it there, and with an expanded field that achievement is seriously limited.  Anyway, looking at a mock field didn’t help.  We weren’t sure what was more ridiculous… that 13 BIG EAST teams made it and we were in the last four in, or that there would even be such a  thing as a #21 seed.

The whole thing is just a little bit too much to take.  But hey, as of now we are in… even if its only by the skin of our teeth.

Coach Keno Releases Statement (So Does Driscoll)

Coach Keno Davis released the following statement:

“Early this morning an incident occurred on Eaton Street that involved Providence College basketball player James Still and a student-athlete that was formerly on our team Johnnie Lacy.  I am deeply troubled and disappointed by their actions. As a result of this incident James Still has been suspended indefinitely from the men’s basketball team pending the on-going investigation”

Athletic Director Bob Driscoll said this:

“Violence towards other individuals will not be tolerated by our athletic department.  Our prayers for a speedy recovery go out to the Providence College student who was injured.”

Nothing too ground breaking here.  We were hoping for a little more, but the whole thing is still pretty new, and we would expect the school and the program to better gather their information before a larger statement is issued.  Also make no doubt about it, as things stand now, we don’t want Still putting on the Friars uniform ever again.

Johnnie Lacy and James Still Arrested: PC Suspends Both Indefinately

Corey Bourassa ProJo.com has reported that both Johnnie Lacy and James Still were arrested early Monday morning on account of assault.  At appropriately 1:00am the Providence Police  responded to an assault where they found the 21 year old senior student, Yerkin Abdrakhmanovon (from Kazakhstan) on the ground near Eaton St. and Huxley Ave. with blood on his face.  A witness identified Johnnie Lacy and James Still as the assailants.  The two were brought into the station for questioning and were arraigned this morning.  Both are charged with one account of felony assault and bail has been set at $10,000 with surety, or $1,000 cash.  As of this morning neither Lacy or Still has posted bail.  The student suffered a broken nose and eye socket and was taken to Rhode Island Hospital.

Providence College has announced that both players have been suspended from the school.  The suspension will last until Providence College completes its own investigation.  They will have to leave campus immediately and will not be able to finish their academic requirements for this semester.  Providence College Executive Vice President Kenneth Sicard issued these words:

“This serious and random assault violates all standards of conduct that Providence College expects of its students and is contrary to our deepest values.  Our thoughts and prayers are extended to the Providence College student who was injured.”

There was another player with Lacy and Still who was released and not charged with any crimes who remains unnamed.

First we would like to wish Yerkin Abdrakhmanovon a speedy recovery.  And now we would just like to rant about how terribly disappointed we are with this whole thing.  Last off season was a rough one for the BIG EAST.  You had you drug arrests, assault arrests, school suspensions, academic suspensions, scandals with coaches, etc.  Luckily we were always proud to say that that wasn’t us, not Providence College.  But this off season it seems that we beat everybody else to the off the court issues.  This is embarrassing and shameful.  Although it is only two students on campus it reflects back very poorly on the school and the program and that is not acceptable.

Johnnie Lacy just had to stay out of trouble for a month and then he was gone.  Instead he is going out with a destructive bang.  And James Still really surprised us.  He is well liked on campus and is not usually the type that starts things up, but last night he was.  Granted we do not know any of the details of what happened, what was said, or what, if anything, provoked Lacy and Still to beat up another student, but we seriously doubt that anything would have warranted the beating Abdrakhmanovon received.  Instead, it was two immature freshman, out and about later than they should have been for a Monday getting into trouble.  And there is no doubt that what Lacy and Still did was idiotic and deserves punishment.  We are glad that the school has suspended them already.  And while Lacy is obviously already leaving, we wouldn’t mind seeing James Still removed from Providence College as well.  Here at PFB as you all know we like to support this team, and as supporters of this team, and the new program that is being built here at Providence we can’t support someone like James Still back on the team.  A message needs to be sent that as Vice President Sicard said in his quote above, this violates all standards of conduct that Providence College expects of its students and is contrary to our deepest values.

There has been no word from Coach Keno just yet regarding the situation.  Things are still early but we will try to keep everybody updated if there are any more developments.

In the mean time let us know what you are thinking, or feel free to rant with a comment.

Joe Young Named to Parade All-American Team

Joe Young has been named to the 54th Parade All-American Team as a 3rd team member.  He becomes the first Friar recruit to make the team since God Shammgod did 15 years ago.