# 2010–11 Providence Friars men's basketball team

The 2010–11 Providence Friars men's basketball team represented Providence College in the Big East Conference. The team finished with a 4–14 conference record and a 15–17 record overall.
In his third season with the team, head coach Keno Davis returned two starters and just eight players overall after a tumultuous offseason that included the dismissal of the team's leading scorer in 2009–10, forward Jamine Peterson, as well as the transfer or dismissal of three other players.
The Friars were led in scoring by senior forward Marshon Brooks, who finished first the conference and second in Division I with 24.6 points per game. He set conference records for single-game scoring (52 points vs. Notre Dame on February 23) and for single-season conference scoring (468 points). Brooks was named to the All-Big East First Team and the Associated Press All-American Third Team following the season and was a finalist for the 2011 John R. Wooden Award.
After losing their first six conference games, including a narrow home defeat to #5 Pittsburgh on January 4, the Friars managed back-to-back wins over ranked opponents for the first time since 1998. On January 22, they defeated #19 Louisville at home before knocking off #8 Villanova at home on January 26. However, the Friars did not receive votes in either the AP Poll or Coaches' Poll at any point in the season.
The Friars lost seven of their final eight regular season conference games, finishing 14th in the conference before falling to Marquette in the first round of the 2011 Big East men's basketball tournament. Davis was fired three days later.

## Offseason

On the morning of April 12, 2010 two freshmen – center James Still and guard Johnnie Lacy – were arrested outside of campus after Lacy and Still randomly attacked another student on the street. Lacy and Still were charged with assault and suspended from the school the same day; Lacy had already planned on transferring at the end of the spring semester. Fellow freshman guard Duke Mondy was detained for questioning, but was not charged. Still was later dismissed from the school.
On May 18, 2010, sophomore forward Jamine Peterson – the Friars' leading scorer in 2009–10 and an All-Big East Honorable Mention – announced to SLAM Magazine that he was turning professional and would pursue playing opportunities overseas. The same day, the school announced Peterson was dismissed from the team for a team rules violation, which was later revealed to have been an on-campus incident involving Peterson and AAU players from Boston on April 23 or 24, 2010.
On the morning of July 18, 2010, redshirt freshman forward Kadeem Batts was arrested outside of a Providence nightclub and was charged with disorderly conduct and failing to disperse after he did not follow police orders to leave the area. The charges were dismissed after six months.
The Friars also lost two graduating starting guards, Sharaud Curry and Brian McKenzie, as well as graduating reserve guard Luke Burchett. Center Ray Hall graduated but returned to the team for a fifth year of eligibility, while junior forward Russ Permenter transferred after one season with the Friars. In addition, assistant coach Pat Skerry was hired by Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon as an assistant coach on May 27. He was replaced by Boston AAU coach Chris Driscoll, who coached Class of 2010 recruits Gerard Coleman and Ron Giplaye. Also hired as Director of Player Development and Video Operations was former NBA player Kevin Gamble, who played for Keno Davis' father Tom Davis at Iowa.
A week after Skerry's departure, 2011 recruit Naadir Tharpe, a guard rated 4/5 stars by Rivals.com who had committed in March 2010, decommitted from Providence due to Skerry's departure. The next day, June 3, the team lost another 4-star recruit by Rivals.com from the 2010 class, guard Joe Young. However, the school did not allow Young to be released from his signed National Letter of Intent; his family stated Young "would never play at Providence." Young later enrolled in the University of Houston, where is father, Michael, was the school's Director of Basketball Operations. Due to NCAA regulations, Young sat out his first year at Houston before returning for three seasons of eligibility.
During the 2010–11 season, Providence lost a top class of 2012 recruit and Rhode Island native Ricky Ledo, who gave Providence a verbal commitment in December 2010, only to rescind his commitment in January 2011.

## Roster
### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 | Bench 3 |
| C | Bilal Dixon | Ray Hall | Lee Goldsbrough | |
| PF | Kadeem Batts | Ron Giplaye | Brice Kofane | Tom Niemeier (W) |
| SF | Marshon Brooks | Duke Mondy | | |
| SG | Gerard Coleman | Bryce Cotton | Chris Carter (W) | Ted Bancroft (W) |
| PG | Vincent Council | Dre Evans | Xavier Davis (W) | Mike Murray (W) |

### Incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Gerard Coleman SG | Boston, MA | Tilton School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 168 lb (76 kg) | Jun 16, 2009 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 94 ||||||
| Bryce Cotton PG | Tucson, AZ | Palo Verde HS | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Aug 30, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Dre Evans PG | Dallas, TX | Carter HS | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Jun 16, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 87 ||||||
| Alex Gavrilovic C | Strasbourg, France | IMG Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | May 19, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 86 ||||||
| Ron Giplaye PF | Lowell, MA | Notre Dame Prep | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 213 lb (97 kg) | Jul 11, 2009 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 88 ||||||
| Lee Goldsbrough PF | Newcastle upon Tyne | Manchester Magic | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Jul 26, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Brice Kofane PF | Yaoundé, Cameroon | The Miller School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Apr 26, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Joe Young SG | Houston, TX | Yates HS | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Sep 15, 2009 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 93 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2010 Providence Signees". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 29, 2009. "2010 Providence Signees". Scout.com. Retrieved October 29, 2009. "2010 Providence Signees". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 29, 2009. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved October 29, 2009. "2010 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 29, 2009. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition games ||||||
| November 6* 7:00 pm | Bentley (D-II) | W 83–76 | | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| Non-conference games ||||||
| November 13* 7:00 pm | Dartmouth | W 87–52 | 1–0 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (5,203) Providence, RI |
| November 15* 7:00 pm | Yale | W 58–55 | 2–0 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (3,521) Providence, RI |
| November 18* 7:00 pm | Morgan State | W 77–55 | 3–0 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (4,620) Providence, RI |
| November 20* 7:00 pm | Prairie View A&M | W 78–62 | 4–0 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (5,851) Providence, RI |
| November 23* 4:30 pm, CBS College Sports | vs. La Salle Cancún Challenge | L 73–84 | 4–1 | Aventura Palace (330) Playa del Carmen, Mexico |
| November 24* 7:00 pm, CBS College Sports | vs. Wyoming Cancún Challenge | W 84–77 | 5–1 | Aventura Palace (415) Playa del Carmen, Mexico |
| November 29* 7:00 pm | Central Connecticut State | W 92–57 | 6–1 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (3,783) Providence, RI |
| December 1* 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | Northeastern | W 77–72 | 7–1 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (4,828) Providence, RI |
| December 4* 4:00 pm, Cox Sports | Rhode Island | W 87–74 | 8–1 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,410) Providence, RI |
| December 6* 7:00 pm | Brown | W 91–64 | 9–1 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (3,641) Providence, RI |
| December 8* 7:00 pm | at Boston College | L 86–88 | 9–2 | Conte Forum (5,462) Chestnut Hill, MA |
| December 11* 2:00 pm, ESPNU | Alabama | W 82–70 | 10–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (8,056) Providence, RI |
| December 21* 7:00 pm | Sacred Heart | W 84–76 | 11–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (6,075) Providence, RI |
| Big East regular season ||||||
| December 28 9:00 pm, ESPNU | at No. 5 Syracuse | L 74–81 | 11–3 (0–1) | Carrier Dome (20,388) Syracuse, NY |
| January 1 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | St. John's | L 65–67 | 11–4 (0–2) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (8,157) Providence, RI |
| January 4 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | No. 5 Pittsburgh | L 79–83 | 11–5 (0–3) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (9,181) Providence, RI |
| January 8 8:00 pm, Cox Sports | at Rutgers | L 72–85 | 11–6 (0–4) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (6,520) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 13 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | at West Virginia | L 63–93 | 11–7 (0–5) | WVU Coliseum (11,052) Morgantown, WV |
| January 16 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | at South Florida | L 72–79 | 11–8 (0–6) | USF Sun Dome (3,526) Tampa, FL |
| January 22 5:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 19 Louisville | W 72–67 | 12–8 (1–6) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,051) Providence, RI |
| January 26 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | No. 8 Villanova | W 83–68 | 13–8 (2–6) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (7,927) Providence, RI |
| January 30 2:00 pm, Cox Sports | at Seton Hall | L 71–81 | 13–9 (2–7) | Prudential Center (9,880) Newark, NJ |
| February 2 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | South Florida | W 68–63 | 14–9 (3–7) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (3,785) Providence, RI |
| February 5 12:00 pm, Cox Sports | at No. 13 Georgetown | L 81–83 | 14–10 (3–8) | Verizon Center (16,289) Washington, D.C. |
| February 13 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | at No. 10 Connecticut | L 57–75 | 14–11 (3–9) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT |
| February 17 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | DePaul | L 76–79 | 14–12 (3–10) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (5,021) Providence, RI |
| February 19 7:00 pm, ESPNU | Cincinnati | L 81–93 $^{OT}$ | 14–13 (3–11) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (9,432) Providence, RI |
| February 23 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | No. 9 Notre Dame | L 93–94 | 14–14 (3–12) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (11,185) Providence, RI |
| February 27 4:00 pm, Cox Sports | at Marquette | L 62–86 | 14–15 (3–13) | Bradley Center (16,768) Milwaukee, WI |
| March 2 7:00 pm, NewsChannel 5 | at No. 11 Louisville | L 60–87 | 14–16 (3–14) | KFC Yum! Center (22,724) Louisville, KY |
| March 5 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Rutgers | W 75–74 | 15–16 (4–14) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (9,088) Providence, RI |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| March 8 9:00 pm, ESPNU | vs. Marquette First Round | L 66–87 | 15–17 (4–14) | Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award(s) |
| Kadeem Batts | 2011 John Zannini Coaches' Award |
| Marshon Brooks | 2011 Associated Press Third Team All-American 2011 All-Big East First Team 2011 John R. Wooden Award Top 20 Finalist 2011 USBWA All-District 1 2011 NABC Division I All-District 5 First Team 2011 Jimmy Walker Most Valuable Player Award February 28: Big East Player of the Week February 7: Big East Player of the Week December 13: Big East Player of the Week 2011 John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 30 Candidate |
| Chris Carter | 2011 Thomas Ramos Academic Award |
| Gerard Coleman | 2011 Coca-Cola Most Promising Prospect Award January 24: Big East Rookie of the Week November 29: Big East Rookie of the Week |
| Bryce Cotton | 2011 Lenny Wilkens Hustle Award |
| Vincent Council | 2011 Ryan Gomes Most Improved Player Award |
| Ray Hall | 2011 Ernie D Team Leader Award |
| Duke Mondy | 2011 Marvin Barnes Defensive Player Award |