When the Providence College Men’s
Basketball Team trots out onto the
hardwood for the first time this season
there will be a lot of new faces sporting
the black and white. After graduating
a total of eight seniors, five of whom
combined to produce 51.3 points and
25.3 rebounds per game, the Friars cer-
tainly find themselves in a rebuilding
stage. However, with two of their top
three scorers from last year returning
and a talented class of incoming fresh-
men and junior college transfers, the
Friars are hopeful that they will remain
competitive and surprise some people
in the Big East this season.
One of the determining factors in
the success of the Friars this season
will be the play of its returning players,
namely senior point guard Sharaud
Curry. Curry, who started last season
slowly after coming back from a foot
injury, finished the season very strong,
averaging 11.7 points and 4.2 assists
per game.
“This is the first time in a couple of
years that I’ve been truly healthy,” said
Curry. “I’ve put in a lot of work this
summer and hopefully that pays off.”
Curry has looked strong thus far in
limited practice time and should draw
serious consideration for all-Big East
honors at season’s end.
Returning alongside Curry will
be junior guard/forward Marshon
Brooks and senior shooting guard
Brian McKenzie. Both Brooks and
McKenzie logged substantial min-
utes last year and their progression
from last year to this year will be cru-
cial for PC.
Brooks, who played sparingly in
his freshman season, had a breakout
season last year with averages of 10.6
points and 3.6 rebounds per game. He
showed the ability to be a go-to scorer
in big games with 17 points in a win
over Syracuse, but fans are hoping
for more consistency from the lanky
swingman from Georgia. Down the
stretch Brooks seemed to be a shell of
his former self, scoring double figures
just once over the last six regular sea-
son games. This year Brooks hopes to
be one of the Friars’ top offensive op-
tions and after participating in the
prestigious Paul Pierce Skills Academy
this summer, Brooks certainly looks ca-
pable of doing so. Even more befuddling
than Brooks’ late season struggles was Bri-
an McKenzie’s inability to produce offen-
sively for PC. After showing great prom-
ise in his sophomore season, averaging
10.6 points and shooting 40.6 percent from
beyond the three-point arc, McKenzie fell
into a shooting slump early on in the 2008-
09 campaign and never recovered.
“Every shooter goes through a
slump,” said Head Coach Keno Davis.
“It becomes an issue of how are you
going to react to it and keep your con-
fidence up. Brian’s [McKenzie] going
to shoot it very well for us this year but
he has to show on the nights where he
doesn’t shoot a high percentage that he
can help us out in other ways, wheth-
er that be on the defensive end or re-
bounding.”
If McKenzie can return to form and
Brooks continues to develop, the return-
ing members of the PC back court could
potentially be a lethal combination.
“Having been through this already
for three years I expect them [Curry,
Brooks, and McKenzie] to be better
prepared,” said Davis. “Whether they
are vocal leaders or lead by example,
that’s going to be important for the
younger guys to take note of and try to
measure themselves against.”
The newcomers will have to follow
the example of the returning players
and adjust quickly to life in the Big East
if they hope to stay afloat. Coach Davis
brought in a whopping seven new play-
ers this off-season, five of which are true
freshmen and two that are junior col-
lege transfers. Add that to the fact that
PC will be getting the services of red-
shirt freshman Bilal Dixon and red-shirt
sophomore Jamine “Greedy” Peterson
and PC has a whole new cast of char-
acters that will have to learn on the fly.
“It’s a different type of learning pro-
cess when you only have three return-
ing guys that played last year,” said
Davis. “It’s a brand new team, so you
have to understand that we’re not go-
ing to look as good in October as we’re
going to look in January.”
Each of the seven newcomers will
certainly have a chance to compete for
playing time and have impressed the
coaching staff and returning players
thus far. Looking to solidify depth at
the point guard position will be fresh-
men Johnnie Lacy and Vincent Coun-
cil. Standing at 6’0” Lacy has the ability
to break people down off the dribble
and score in the lane. To complement
Lacy, Council plays the role of a pass-
first guard that is excellent at getting
into the paint and kicking it out to
open shooters. In Coach Davis’s run
and gun offensive system, both guards
seem to be a great fit for the up-tempo
style of play.
“They [Lacy and Council] are very
talented ball players,” said starting
point guard Sharaud Curry. “They have
a lot of upside and are going to have
very good careers here. They’re going
to show that they belong in the Big East
and will step in and play right away.”
Expecting to play more of an off-
guard/shooting guard role is fresh-
man Duke Mondy and junior college
transfer Kyle Wright. Both Wright and
Mondy have beautiful strokes from
beyond the arc and could potentially
play a key role in Keno’s three-point
friendly offense.
While PC has some experience in
the back court the front court remains
unproven. Not a single one of PC’s big
men played division one college hoops
last season which is not a comforting
thought for Friar fans. The Big East
has a reputation for being the most
bruising and physical conference in
the nation and if a team doesn’t have
the personnel to bang down low, it can
be a long season. Despite their rela-
tive lack of experience, the Friars own
a slew of big men that are eager to
take on the challenges of Big East play.
“Everyone you match up against in the
Big East is going to be big and athletic,”
said freshman power forward/center
Kadeem Batts. “We have good big men
coming in as well as the returning big
men [Bilal Dixon and Greedy Peterson]
that I can learn from, so I think we’ll be
able to play with anyone down low.”
Standing 6’8” and 235 lbs, Batts has
the Big East body type and athleticism
necessary to pull down boards and
score in the paint. Thus far, the fresh-
man has impressed the coaching staff
tremendously and should see a lot of
time on the court this season.
“For such a young kid, only 17 years
old Kadeem has a great build,” said
Davis. “But we’re stressing to him and
the other freshmen to continue to work
hard in the weight room and build up
the strength that’s necessary to play in
this league on a nightly basis.”
Batts will not be alone down low.
Joining him will be fellow freshman
James Still as well as Dixon, Peterson,
and junior college transfer Russ Per-
menter. Those who remember Peterson
from the 2007-08 campaign will recall
his tremendous leaping ability and of-
fensive rebounding prowess. After red-
shirting last season and working on his
offensive game, Peterson has added a
mid range shot to his repertoire and
hopes to be more of an offensive force
this season. Peterson has the potential
to be a breakout player for PC this year
if he can be a force on the boards and
convert from in close. Another player
that oozes with potential is Still. The
6’9” center from Detroit is incredibly
long and mobile has the capability of
being a game changer at the defensive
end. His long reach allows him to send
back shots left and right, an asset that
the Friars haven’t had since Marcus
Douthit graduated in 2004. He still needs
to put on muscle and work on his post
moves in order to become a dominant
Big East player, however it looks like
he has the chance to develop into a very
solid center for Providence in the future.
Dixon and Permenter will also com-
pete for starting positions. Dixon, a
6’8,” 228-pound power forward/cen-
ter ,has the physical traits necessary to
play on the blocks. He has a solid base
and possesses a soft jump-hook around
the basket. He is very much like Class
of 2009 graduate Jonathon Kale and if
he can bring the type of intensity that
Kale brought to the court, he could be
a serious factor.
Permenter meanwhile is confident
that he and the other big men are ready
to hold their own. “Coming from ju-
nior college and having some division
one experience I feel ready to step in
and play right away,” said Permenter.
“Even though it’s my first year at PC I
realize that I’m one of the upperclass-
men on this team and I need to be a
leader and provide an example for the
younger guys too.”
Overall there is a lot of uncertainty
in Friartown. Uncertainty surround-
ing who’s going to get playing time
and uncertainty as to how all of these
new players are going to mesh with
each other.
“There’s nobody right now that
has a locked spot in terms of starting,
or even playing time for that mat-
ter,” said Davis. “Some of the older
guys may have an advantage because
they’ve been through this before but
that doesn’t mean one of the younger
guys can’t beat them out in practice.”
The players seem very excited about
playing with their new teammates and
optimistic about the upcoming season
despite many college hoops analysts
predicting the Friars to finish 14th or
15th in the Big East.
“I love the whole team,” said Batts.
“We have great chemistry already and
a great leader in Sharaud [Curry].
We’re young, but we’re talented.”
“I think the fans are going to be sur-
prised by how good the young guys
are and how ready they are to play,”
said Curry. “The Big East is a great con-
ference and this early on I really can’t
predict if we’ll finish at the bottom or
at the top. What I do know however,
is that this team is going to compete
night in and night out and get better as
the season progresses.”
Like Curry, most Friar fans are sim-
ply hoping to see progress this season.
With such a young cast of characters
it’s more important to see continual
improvement and increased compe-
tence of Keno Davis’s offensive system
than the number of wins and losses.
This year will be crucial in terms of
building a base for Davis to mold and
shape in the coming years.
“This is going to be a process,” said
Davis. “We’ve got to be about working
hard and if you work hard every day
and every week, success will come. It’s
just how soon that will come and we’ll
speed that up as much as possible.”