“20 in 60”: #15 Where are they now? Tracking former Friars

One thing that has been a constant at PC over the past few years is change. From coaches, to players, to recruits there has been an incredible amount of turnover in the PC program as the Friars transitioned from the Keno Davis era to the Ed Cooley era.

Here is a rundown of what is going on with former members of the PC program who have moved on.

The Players

Duke Mondy –After sitting out this past season Duke will be a member of the Oakland University (MI) Golden Grizzlies.  Playing in the Summit League Oakland has had four straight 20 win seasons and played in the CIT tournament last year.

This is a great opportunity for Duke to play some major minutes at a quality mid-major program.

James Still –Last year James played at Henry Ford Community College where he averaged double figures in both points and rebounds. This coming season he will be playing for Eastern Michigan University in the Mid-American conference.  The Eagles finished with a 14-18 record last year and have an interesting non-conference schedule this year playing at Syracuse, at Umass, at Michigan, and at Kentucky.  Still and Mondy will be reuniting on December 22 when Oakland University plays at Eastern Michigan.

Dre Evans –Dre played last year at Blinn College where he averaged 8.6 points and 3.4 assists for the Buccaneers, who finished 27-7 and lost in the NJCC region XIV finals. This year Dre will be playing with South Eastern Louisiana University in the Southland League where the Lions finished 12-17 last year

Johnnie Lacy –Johnnie played for the 2010-2011 Howard College basketball team (Junior College). I cannot find out where he played in 2011-2012 or if he is going to be playing anywhere this coming season.

Gerard Coleman –As all Friar fans know, Gerard will be sitting out this season while transferring to perennial mid-major power Gonzaga of the Western Athletic Conference. The Bulldogs finished 26-7 last year and lost in the third round of the NCAA tournament to Ohio State.

Sitting out this season is going to be a great opportunity to work on his shooting stroke, developing his right hand and add weight.

Bilal Dixon –Bilal transferred to Towson State University where he will be immediately eligible to play. The Tigers, coached by former PC Assistant Coach Pat Skerry, finished at 1-31 last year in the Colonial Athletic League.

Ron Giplaye –Ron is sitting out this year after transferring to East Tennessee State University. The Buccaneers were 14-17 last year in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

This appears to be just about the right level for Ron, where he can play meaningful minutes for a Division 1 school.

Kiwi Gardner –With his status up in the air for much of this past season it appeared that Kiwi was going to be playing this year for the College of Southern Idaho, a perennial Junior College power.  They recently released him from his commitment and word now is that he will wind up at Midland College (Junior College) in Texas.

 

The Recruits

Naadir Tharpe –Naadir was a freshman at Kansas last year where he played sparingly, averaging a little over 5 minutes a game in 32 games. Naadir should be in line for major minutes this year and it will be interesting to see what kind of stats he puts up for the Jayhawks.

Joe Young –Joe started for the University of Houston last year averaging 11.4 points and 2.4 assists per game for the Cougars. After a slow start Joe was able to increase his shooting percentages, finishing with 42.4 FG%, .38.2 3Pt%, and 83.7 FT%

Kyan Anderson –Kyan averaged 8.3 points and 2.8 assists for Texas Christian last year playing in all 33 games for the Horned Frogs. PC really could have used a back-up point guard with those kind of stats last year to give Vincent Council a rest.

Markus Crider –Markus spent last year as a post grad at Bridgton Academy in Maine and this Spring accepted a scholarship offer to play at Georgia State in the Colonial Athletic Conference. Markus is a personal favorite of mine and I am sure that many of the Friar fans who followed him on Twitter will be rooting for him to succeed at his new school.

 

The Coaches 

Keno Davis (Head Coach) –After taking off the 2011-2012 season to do TV color commentary for the Big 10 Network,  Keno Davis was announced as the new coach of the Central Michigan Chippewas in the Mid America Conference.  Keno takes over a team that was 11-21 last year (5-11 in the MAC). Davis will be reunited with James Still on January 15 when the Chippewas take on Eastern Michigan University.

Keno was in over his head at Providence, but this might be the type of mid major level program where he can succeed.

Chris Davis (Assistant Coach) –After he left the Friars Chris was named an assistant coach at UC Davis of the Big West Conference in July of 2011.  The Aggies finished 5-26 last year (3-13 in the Big West). Chris remains on the UC Davis staff for the 2012-2013 season’

Rodell Davis (Assistant Coach) –Rodell was named an assistant coach at Loyola  Chicago of the Horizon League  in 2011. The Ramblers were 7-23 last year (1-17 in the Horizon League) Rodell was let go by Loyola in July.

Pat Skerry (Assistant Coach) –After serving as an assistant coach at Pittsburgh during the 2010-2011 season Pat was named Head Coach of Towson State University in the Colonial Athletic Conference. Pat had a rough season last year going 1-31 but with his recruiting ability he should be able to turn this program around.

Kevin Gamble (Director of Operations) –Kevin was named as one of Central Michigan’s assistant coaches and has been reunited this year with Keno Davis on the Chippewas staff.

Chris Driscoll (Assistant Coach) Chris does not have a new position to my knowledge since he left Providence, but has made a lot of negative headlines in the New York Times concerning the recruitment of Nerlens Noel. Probably the less said about this the better.

Michael Swets (Grad Assistant under Keno Davis) This year Michael will be starting his second season as Director of Basketball Operations on Pat Skerry’s staff for the Towson Tigers.

Andrew Papaefthemiou (Grad Assistant under Keno Davis) –After spending a year as the Head Coach at Lee Academy in the New England Prep School League Andrew is entering his second season as an assistant coach at Assumption College.

Pat Rogers (Grad Assistant under Keno Davis and Ed Cooley) Pat was named within the past couple of weeks as Director of Basketball Operations at The Citadel.

 

 

 

3 Comments

1. 

   Joe

   September 9, 2012 at 2:59 am

   Very good write up, thanks

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