After three years of very mixed results, Vice President and Athletic Director Steve Napolillo made the decision to move on from Coach Kim English. I am sure this was not an easy decision, as it was Nap who hired Kim. It was his first defining hire since he officially replaced Bob Driscoll the previous year. It was also a difficult situation for him with the timeline given for the decision. I am sure Steve was prepared for the possibility of Ed Cooley leaving Friartown for the swamps of the Big East and was doing research into successors, but his hands were tied. While he could put a list of names together and do basic inquiries, I assume most candidates and their agents are not going to engage in deep conversations about a job that may or may not open.
Another key point to make is that even though the hiring did not work out, there were many valid reasons to support the choice at the time. Coach English was a fast-rising assistant who spent time at Tulsa, Colorado, and Tennessee, followed by two years as head coach at George Mason where he won 20 games in his second year. Many sports media people and other coaches praised Kim and the decision by the Friars. Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68 was particularly exuberant, giving Nap an A for the decision and stating that Providence was better off than Georgetown after the coaching changes. Added to this was the fact that Coach English kept all of our key players from transferring and got top recruit Garwey Dual to re-commit to the Friars. It looked like we struck gold.
I also want to make the point that while I completely support the decision to move on from Coach English, I do not celebrate his firing. Kim dedicated himself completely to succeeding here, and any negative results were not the due to lack of trying. He was also a victim of bad luck, not just the Bryce Hopkins injuries but also the fact that the 2024 NCAA Tournament Selection Committee did the worst job that I can ever remember. If Providence got into the tournament (along with St. John’s and Seton Hall), Kim’s tenure might be different. The fact is that Nap has to deal with what happened, and it was in the best interest of everyone to go their separate ways. I wish Kim the best and would not be surprised to see him being successful elsewhere.
The important question is where does Athletic Director Napolillo go from here? While everyone is engaging in speculation, the truth is very few people have true knowledgeof what is going to happen. I will give my opinion on some of the perceived candidates and my guess as to the thought process. Again, this is not based on any inside knowledge, just based on following college basketball and Providence College basketball for most of my life. I joke about the fact that during the season, I watch college basketball and the news, but it is basically true. I do not watch the NFL, NBA, NHL, etc., nor do I follow most TV shows or movies. Based on this, I believe the Friars will look to a sitting coach who has had success in Division 1 basketball. I cannot see them going with an assistant coach or someone unproven based on potential. The last point is that the main reason we are in position to make a successful hire is because of Nap’s elite level fundraising, helping to put the team’s NIL potentialamong the top levels of the country.
The candidates that have been mentioned are as follows:
Bryan Hodgson, USF. Hodgson led to Bulls to the American Conference championship and an 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament, following a regular season championship in the Sun Belt last season. He has won nearly two-thirds of his games as a head coach after spending eight years as an assistant to Nate Oats, first at Buffalo then at Alabama.Hodgson has a reputation as a dogged recruiter who brought a number of top players to Alabama and has been successful bringing talent to South Florida. The latest rumor mill has him considered to be the favorite for the position at the moment but is also believed to have strong interest from Syracuse to fill their vacancy. My personal opinion is that he is a fine candidate, but he would not be my top choice. I watched about five of his games this season and never once thought he should be the Friars’ next head coach. There is also concern that his agents are playing Providence and Syracuse against each other to inflate his salary for whichever job he gets. South Florida also believes they can increase his salary to a point where he will stay. USF is hoping to get an invitation from one of the power football conferences. They have greatly increased NIL for football and basketball and are second only to Memphis in basketball resources.
Phil Martelli Jr, VCU. Martelli’s resume as a head coach is very similar to Hodgson’s. He has two successful years at a lower major and a strong year with an NCAA bid at a stronger mid-major this season. His winning percentage is slightly higher than Hodgson, and this will be his second NCAA appearance. I would argue that Martelli is a better X’s and O’s coach than Hodgson while Hodgson is known to be a top-level recruiter, much more so than Martelli, but it should be noted that VCU signed their highest rated recruit in a decadelast spring, and their second highest in November. On the other hand, Martelli was rarely mentioned as a potential head coach until he took over the Bryant job at the start of the 2023-24 season when Jared Grasso resigned. I think it is probably too soon for him to be a strong candidate in Friartown, but he is a coach on the rise.
Joe Gallo, Merrimack. Gallo has many people who question is coaching ability and how it would translate to the next level, but he just wins. He led Merrimack to the Division 2 NCAA tournament in his three seasons at that level. They transitioned to Division 1 and won the Northeast Conference championship in their initial season at this level, and another championship two years later, followed by another regular season championship in their final year int the NEC. Merrimack then stepped up to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 2024 and finished second and first in their two seasons in the MAAC. In addition, Gallo has shown an ability to find talent including 2026 MAAC Player of the Year Kevair Kennedy and 2026 All Big East player Budd Clark, who transferred to Seton Hall this year. I have watched many of the Merrimack games due primarily to Clark and know Gallo can coach. I do think the jump to the Big East is too steep and this is why he will not be a candidate here. If URI wants to improve their basketball program, Gallo would be an ideal candidate for the job.
Herb Sendek, Santa Clara. Now we are getting to my personal favorites for the position. I first met the Herbivore in 1988 when he was a young assistant in Friartown and hasfollowed his career ever since. For those who are unfamiliar with Herb, he was a point guard at Division 3 Carnegie Mellon University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude (Latin for really, really smart) with a degree in Industrial Management (Engineering). He passed up offers from top engineering companies and Wall Street to take a graduate assistant position with then unknown coach at Providence named Rick Pitino, and later a restricted earnings assistant under Rick Barnes. He coached in the MAC, ACC, Pac-12, and WCC and won Coach of the Year in all four conferences. Coaches around the country will state the Sendek is among the absolute best X’s and O’s coaches in the business. Herb is not likely the most exciting name that will be tied to the job, but I would bet he is the best game coach. He has consistently found talent everywhere he has been, including NBA stars Brandin Podziemski and Jalen Williams, with as many as fourpotential NBA players on his current Broncos roster. Of all the candidates mentioned, I believe Sendek is the safest bet to make Providence competitive in the Big East, arguably the best coaches league in the country. He is an outstanding coach and person, as well as a person of faith, which should matter at Providence College.
Eric Olen, New Mexico. Olen took over New Mexico last spring, replacing Friar alumnus Richard Pitino after spending twenty years at UC San Diego as an assistant then head coach. He qualified for the Division 2 NCAA Tournament in each of his final four seasons there before they transitioned to Division 1. Last year, in their first season of NCAA Tournament eligibility the Tritons won 30 games including the regular season and tournament championships, then nearly beat Michigan in the NCAA Tournament. When he replaced Richard Pitino at New Mexico, he was faced with a rebuilding situation as New Mexico had no returning players and very limited NIL to build an entire team. The result was a 23-winseason, top 50 NET and KenPom rankings, two all-conference players and the Mountain West Freshman of the Year. He’s 45 years old with a perfect blend of relative youth and experienceto fit in Friartown. People question the fact that he has spent much of his career in the West Coast, but it was one job that he took because his college coach hired him after he graduated. I also respect the fact that he promised UCSD to stay there for the duration of their transition to Division 1, then passed up offers in 2024 to honor his commitment. Sinceit is already mentioned elsewhere, another factor for Olen is that he has a family medical condition that requires regular trips to Boston, making Providence an attractive destination for him,
If I was making the decision, my top choices would be Eric Olen or Herb Sendek, even acknowledging my personal bias toward the Herbivore. These are top-level bench coaches who have been able to build quality rosters with low-level resources. Given the incredible job AD Napolillo has done with our NIL and program resources, they should succeed at a higher level with the advantages of Friartown. Any of the other candidates named here or elsewhere that is chosen by Nap will likely be walking into the best situation of their career. I have full faith that he will make the best decision possible for the school and for himself, because anyone who knows Steve Napolillo knows that he and the school are inexorably intertwined.
Go Friars.