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Here and There in Friartown

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News, notes, and opinions on Friar basketball  while waiting for the Friars to start their post season journey this afternoon against St. John’s. Taking a look at some of the key Friars and their journeys to this point.

Kris Dunn- Has there ever been any player followed more closely by Friar Nation than Kris Dunn? From the day he committed to PC Friar fans jumped on the Dunn bandwagon. That was because he was the one — the first really high profile player to buy into Ed Cooley’s vision of what the Friar program could be.

As soon as Kris committed it was like he was already a Friar. Friar fans checked out the New London Day regularly to see if there were any Dunn articles. They watched New London Whalers’ games when they were streamed live on the internet. Friar fans made the trek to New London to watch Kris in person and came out in droves when his team played games at CCRI and PC’s Alumni Hall. Friar fans were glued to their television sets when Kris played before national audiences during the McDonald’s All American and the Jordan Brand Classic All Star games.

There was a never a player whose arrival was more anticipated than Dunn’s so it was particularly heart breaking when he had to suffer through two separate shoulder injuries which all but deprived him of his first two years of college basketball.

For all these reasons it was especially gratifying that Kris Dunn became the first Friar to ever win the Big East Player of the Year award.

Carson Desrosier and Tyler Harris– It was almost three years ago at the PC pre-season media day that I first met Carson Desrosiers and Tyler Harris. Appropriately they were sitting at the same table as they had so much in common. Both players were transferring to PC from ACC schools, Carson from Wake Forest and Tyler from North Carolina State. Both players had been playing for new coaches that did not recruit them at their old schools. Most importantly, both Desrosiers and Harris were major recruiting targets for PC under the previous regime who chose to go to other schools instead of attending PC.

At that media day I asked them both why they chose not to attend PC and they both agreed that although they absolutely loved the school they felt that there was something missing within the basketball program. When I asked them what changed their minds and pick PC when they decided to transfer, they said that the something that was missing from the PC program was now there. What did not need to be said was that “the something that was missing” was Ed Cooley.

Here is is almost three years later and both Carson and Tyler are very integral parts of a team that is getting ready to go to their second straight NCAA tournament. As they prepare to defend their Big East title Friar fans are glad that they decided to give PC another look. Sometimes the second time around is a charm.

LaDontae Henton– Everyone knows the story, how Henton was Ed Cooley’s first recruit at PC — how he couldn’t get a serious look from his hometown Michigan State Spartans and wound up committing to the Friars after his original choice, Dayton, made a coaching change.

At the time of his commitment Friar fans felt it was a nice acquisition and he would be a nice complementary player for the Friars that could hopefully make contributions during his four year career.

Instead, Henton became the latest in a long line of Friar greats who were overlooked when they enrolled, but wound up with stellar careers and in the PC Hall of Fame.

How lightly regarded was LaDontae? In the fall of his freshman year much of the buzz among Friar fans was about PC’s other incoming freshman, Kiwi Gardner, who had all the moves and was a mix-tape sensation. Henton was somewhat of an afterthought among many fans.

Four years later Henton will take his place among the Friar greats like Otis Thorpe, Ryan Gomes, and Bryce Cotton who made their reputations while at PC, instead of before it.

Email Craig at craig.leighton@friarbasketball.com

One Comment

  1. Derec Lamendola

    March 12, 2015 at 9:44 pm

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