# 2011–12 Providence Friars men's basketball team

The 2011–12 Providence Friars men's basketball team represented Providence College in the Big East Conference. For the third straight season, the team finished with a 4–14 conference record, while amassing a 15–17 record overall.
Replacing Keno Davis, who was fired following the 2010–11 season, Providence native Ed Cooley took over as head coach and his first season with the Friars would come without departing seniors Marshon Brooks, who was a first-round selection in the 2011 NBA draft after leading the Big East in scoring in 2010–11, and reserve center Ray Hall. In addition, sophomore guard Duke Mondy, freshman guard Dre Evans, and redshirt freshman guard Xavier Davis all did not return to the team or transferred, while incoming freshman guard Kiwi Gardner was deemed ineligible to play in the 2011–12 season by the NCAA.
With just nine scholarship players available, the Friars had three players in the top five in the conference for minutes played per game, including freshman forward LaDontae Henton (37.2 minutes per game), who was named the Big East All-Rookie Team, and sophomore guard Bryce Cotton (38.6 minutes per game). Leading the conference in both minutes per game (38.7) and assists per game (7.5) was junior guard Vincent Council, who was selected to the All-Big East Third Team.
The Friars managed four conference wins, but defeated #14 Louisville at home, 90–59, on January 10. The Friars did not receive votes in either the AP Poll or Coaches' Poll at any point in the season. They finished 15th in the conference and were defeated by Seton Hall in the first round of the 2012 Big East men's basketball tournament.

## Roster
### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 | Bench 3 |
| F/C | Kadeem Batts | Brice Kofane Bilal Dixon Ron Giplaye | Lee Goldsbrough | |
| F | LaDontae Henton | | | |
| G/F | Gerard Coleman | Anthony Muhammad (W) | Chris Carter (W) | |
| G | Bryce Cotton | | Ted Bancroft (W) | Mike Murray (W) |
| PG | Vincent Council | | | Maurice Grant (W) |

### Incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Kiwi Gardner PG | Manteca, CA | Westwind Preparatory Academy | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | 155 lb (70 kg) | Apr 21, 2011 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 88 ||||||
| LaDontae Henton SF | Lansing, MI | Eastern HS | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | May 5, 2011 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| 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: "2011 Providence Signees". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 12, 2011. "2011 Providence Signees". Scout.com. Retrieved July 12, 2011. "2011 Providence Signees". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 12, 2011. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved July 12, 2011. "2011 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 12, 2011. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Exhibition games ||||||
| October 25* 7:00 pm | Assumption (D-II) | W 64–51 | | Alumni Hall Providence, RI |
| November 5* 7:00 pm | UMass Lowell (D-II) | W 76–75 | | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| Non-conference games ||||||
| November 12* 2:00 pm | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 72–61 | 1–0 | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| November 14* 7:30 pm, Cox Sports | at Fairfield | W 80–72 | 2–0 | Webster Bank Arena Bridgeport, CT |
| November 19* 4:00 pm | Florida A&M South Padre Island Invitational | W 87–65 | 3–0 | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| November 22* 7:00 pm | Southern South Padre Island Invitational | W 59–53 | 4–0 | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| November 25* 8:30 pm | vs. Iowa State South Padre Island Invitational | L 54–64 | 4–1 | South Padre Island Convention Centre South Padre Island, TX |
| November 26* 10:00 pm, CBS Sports Network | vs. Northern Iowa South Padre Island Invitational | L 62–79 | 4–2 | South Padre Island Convention Centre South Padre Island, TX |
| November 29* 7:00 pm | Holy Cross | W 82–77 | 5–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| December 1* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | at South Carolina SEC–Big East Challenge | W 76–67 | 6–2 | Colonial Life Arena Columbia, SC |
| December 5* 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | Brown | W 80–49 | 7–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| December 8* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Boston College | W 64–57 | 8–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| December 10* 12:00 pm, Cox Sports | Bryant | W 72–61 | 9–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| December 20* 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | New Hampshire | W 67–52 | 10–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| December 23* 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | at Rhode Island | W 80–61 | 11–2 | Ryan Center Kingston, RI |
| Big East regular season ||||||
| December 27 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | at St. John's | L 67–91 | 11–3 (0–1) | Carnesecca Arena Queens, NY |
| December 31 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | at No. 12 Georgetown | L 40–49 | 11–4 (0–2) | Verizon Center Washington, D.C. |
| January 4 9:00 pm, Cox Sports | No. 1 Syracuse | L 73–87 | 11–5 (0–3) | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| January 7 6:00 pm, Cox Sports | Seton Hall | L 57–66 | 11–6 (0–4) | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| January 10 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 14 Louisville | W 90–59 | 12–6 (1–4) | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| January 14 6:00 pm, Cox Sports | at No. 1 Syracuse | L 55–78 | 12–7 (1–5) | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| January 21 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | No. 21 Marquette | L 72–79 | 12–8 (1–6) | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| January 25 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | at Pittsburgh | L 74–86 | 12–9 (1–7) | Petersen Events Center Pittsburgh, PA |
| January 29 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | at South Florida | L 78–81 | 12–10 (1–8) | Tampa Bay Times Forum Tampa, FL |
| February 1 7:00 pm, ESPNU | Rutgers | W 78–67 | 13–10 (2–8) | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| February 5 12:00 pm, Cox Sports | West Virginia | L 84–87 $^{OT}$ | 13–11 (2–9) | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| February 7 8:00 pm, Cox Sports | at Villanova | L 72–74 | 13–12 (2–10) | The Pavilion Villanova, PA |
| February 11 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | South Florida | L 48–55 | 13–13 (2–11) | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| February 15 9:00 pm, ESPNU | at Cincinnati | L 66–81 | 13–14 (2–12) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| February 18 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | No. 10 Georgetown | L 53–63 | 13–15 (2–13) | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| February 25 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | at DePaul | W 73–71 | 14–15 (3–13) | Allstate Arena Rosemont, IL |
| February 28 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | Connecticut | W 72–70 | 15–15 (4–13) | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| March 2 7:00 pm, Cox Sports | at No. 20 Notre Dame | L 69–75 | 15–16 (4–14) | Edmund P. Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| March 6 7:00 pm, ESPNU | vs. Seton Hall First Round | L 47–79 | 15–17 (4–14) | Madison Square Garden 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) |
| Ted Bancroft | 2012 John Zannini Coaches' Award |
| Bryce Cotton | 2012 Ryan Gomes Most Improved Player Award |
| Vincent Council | 2012 All-Big East Third Team 2012 USBWA All-District 1 2012 Jimmy Walker Most Valuable Player Award |
| Lee Goldsbrough | 2012 Lenny Wilkens Hustle Award |
| LaDontae Henton | 2012 Big East All-Rookie Team 2012 Coca-Cola Most Promising Prospect Award March 5: Big East Rookie of the Week December 12: Big East Rookie of the Week December 5: Big East Rookie of the Week |
| Brice Kofane | 2012 Marvin Barnes Defensive Player Award |
| Mike Murray | 2012 Thomas Ramos Academic Award |