# 2016–17 Providence Friars men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Providence Friars men's basketball team represented Providence College in the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Friars, led by sixth-year head coach Ed Cooley, played their home games at the Dunkin' Donuts Center, as members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 20–13, 10–8 in Big East play to finish in a four-way tie for third place. As the No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament, they lost in the quarterfinals to Creighton. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 11 seed where they lost to USC in the First Four.

## Previous season

The Friars finished the season 24–11, 10–8 in Big East play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They defeated Butler in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Villanova. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 9 seed where they defeated USC in the first round before losing to North Carolina in the second round.

## Preseason

Prior to the season, Providence was picked to finish ninth in a poll of Big East coaches.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Ben Bentil | 0 | F | 6'9" | 245 | Sophomore | Wilmington, DE | Declared for the 2016 NBA draft; selected 51st overall by the Boston Celtics |
| Kris Dunn | 3 | G | 6'4" | 220 | RS Junior | New London, CT | Declared for the 2016 NBA draft; selected 5th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Quadree Smith | 10 | F | 6'8" | 285 | Freshman | Temple Hills, MD | Transferred |
| Tyree Chambers | 14 | G | 6'2" | 182 | Sophomore | Bayreuth, Germany | Transfrerred to LeMoyne |
| Junior Lomomba | 32 | G | 6'5" | 205 | RS Junior | Montreal, QE | Graduate transferred to Western Kentucky |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Emmitt Holt | 15 | F | 6'8" | 230 | Junior | Webster, NY | Junior college transferred from Indian Hills Community College |

## Incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Alpha Diallo #19 SF | Denver, CO | Brewster Academy | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Apr 26, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 82 ||||||
| Maliek White #34 PG | Richmond, VA | George Wythe High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Sep 27, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| Kalif Young PF | Orangeville, ON | Orangeville Prep | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 250 lb (110 kg) | May 18, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 2, 2016. ||||||

### Class of 2017 recruits

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Makai Ashton-Langford PG | Worcester, MA | Brewster Academy | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Apr 10, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 89 |||||||
| Dajour Dickens C | Hampton, VA | Bethel High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Feb 27, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 80 |||||||
| Nate Watson C | Arlington, VA | Bishop O'Connell High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Sep 10, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 80 |||||||
| 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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 2, 2016. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Oct 29, 2016* 7:00 pm | | Carleton | W 87–69 | | Dunkin' Donuts Center (4,875) Providence, RI |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 14, 2016* 7:00 pm, FS2 | | Vermont | W 80–58 | 1–0 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (8,310) Providence, RI |
| Nov 17, 2016* 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Ohio State Gavitt Tipoff Games | L 67–72 | 1–1 | Value City Arena (11,089) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 19, 2016* 12:00 pm, FS2 | | Grambling State Emerald Coast Classic | W 71–54 | 2–1 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (6,093) Providence, RI |
| Nov 21, 2016* 6:30 pm, FS1 | | St. Francis Brooklyn Emerald Coast Classic | W 64–48 | 3–1 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (4,208) Providence, RI |
| Nov 25, 2016* 9:30 pm, CBSSN | | vs. Memphis Emerald Coast Classic semifinals | W 60–51 | 4–1 | The Arena at NWFSC (2,196) Niceville, FL |
| Nov 26, 2016* 7:00, CBSSN | | vs. No. 7 Virginia Emerald Coast Classic championship | L 52–63 | 4–2 | The Arena at NWFSC (2,196) Niceville, FL |
| Nov 30, 2016* 6:30 pm, FS2 | | New Hampshire | W 76–62 | 5–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (4,801) Providence, RI |
| Dec 3, 2016* 4:30 pm, FSN/OSN | | No. 21 Rhode Island Ocean State Cup | W 63–60 | 6–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,488) Providence, RI |
| Dec 6, 2016* 7:00 pm, FS2 | | Brown Ocean State Cup | W 95–57 | 7–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (4,869) Providence, RI |
| Dec 10, 2016* 12:00 pm, FS1 | | Massachusetts | W 75–69 | 8–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (7,815) Providence, RI |
| Dec 17, 2016* 12:00 pm, FS1 | | Wagner | W 76–54 | 9–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (4,069) Providence, RI |
| Dec 20, 2016* 8:30 pm, FS1 | | Maine | W 79–59 | 10–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (4,257) Providence, RI |
| Dec 23, 2016* 4:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Boston College | L 67–79 | 10–3 | Conte Forum (5,266) Chestnut Hill, MA |
| Big East regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2016 7:00 pm, FSN/OSN | | at No. 17 Xavier | L 56–82 | 10–4 (0–1) | Cintas Center (10,426) Cincinnati, OH |
| Jan 1, 2017 3:00 pm, CBSSN | | at No. 13 Butler | L 61–78 | 10–5 (0–2) | Hinkle Fieldhouse (8,403) Indianapolis, IN |
| Jan 4, 2017 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Georgetown | W 76–70 | 11–5 (1–2) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (9,586) Providence, RI |
| Jan 7, 2017 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | No. 10 Creighton | L 64–78 | 11–6 (1–3) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (8,176) Providence, RI |
| Jan 10, 2017 9:00 pm, FS1 | | at DePaul | L 63–64 | 11–7 (1–4) | Allstate Arena (4,641) Rosemont, IL |
| Jan 14, 2017 12:00 pm, FSN/OSN | | Seton Hall | W 65–61 | 12–7 (2–4) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (9,253) Providence, RI |
| Jan 16, 2017 9:00 pm, FS1 | | at Georgetown MLK Day Marathon | W 74–56 | 13–7 (3–4) | Verizon Center (5,169) Washington, D.C. |
| Jan 21, 2017 12:00 pm, FOX | | at No. 1 Villanova | L 68–78 | 13–8 (3–5) | Wells Fargo Center (18,731) Philadelphia, PA |
| Jan 25, 2017 6:30 pm, FS1 | | St. John's | L 86–91 | 13–9 (3–6) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (10,314) Providence, RI |
| Jan 28, 2017 2:00 pm, FSN/OSN | | at Marquette | W 79–78 | 14–9 (4–6) | BMO Harris Bradley Center (15,369) Milwaukee, WI |
| Feb 1, 2017 7:00 pm, FS1 | | No. 4 Villanova | L 57–66 | 14–10 (4–7) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,463) Providence, RI |
| Feb 8, 2017 12:00 pm, FS1 | | at Seton Hall | L 70–72 $^{OT}$ | 14–11 (4–8) | Walsh Gymnasium (7,024) South Orange, NJ |
| Feb 11, 2017 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | No. 22 Butler | W 71–65 | 15–11 (5–8) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,746) Providence, RI |
| Feb 15, 2017 6:30 pm, FS1 | | Xavier | W 75–63 | 16–11 (6–8) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (10,102) Providence, RI |
| Feb 22, 2017 8:00 pm, FSN/OSN | | at No. 23 Creighton | W 68–66 | 17–11 (7–8) | CenturyLink Center (17,382) Omaha, NE |
| Feb 25, 2017 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | Marquette | W 73–69 | 18–11 (8–8) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (13,216) Providence, RI |
| Feb 28, 2017 9:00 pm, FS1 | | DePaul | W 73–64 | 19–11 (9–8) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (10,101) Providence, RI |
| Mar 4, 2017 12:00 pm, FS2 | | at St. John's | W 86–75 | 20–11 (10–8) | Madison Square Garden (8,826) New York City, NY |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| Mar 9, 2017 9:30 pm, FS1 | (3) | vs. (6) Creighton Quarterfinals | L 58–70 | 20–12 | Madison Square Garden (16,003) New York City, NY |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 15, 2017* 9:10 pm, truTV | (11 E) | vs. (11 E) USC First Four | L 71–75 | 20–13 | UD Arena (11,528) Dayton, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East Region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||