Providence basketball coach Kim English disappointed that Friars were snubbed by NCAA

PROVIDENCE — The Providence College men’s basketball team completed its résumé on Friday night. As the ball kept bouncing around the college basketball world, the NCAA Tournament selection committee had to shuffle the stack, and the Big East conference did not fare well.

The Friars will not be dancing this March.

“We could talk about deservedness all you want,” head coach Kim English said after the selection show. “Some teams that did get in and their lack of quality wins; teams that did get in with multiple Quad 3 losses, multiple Quad 4 losses. But it’s not about what you deserve in life. It’s about what you earn. At the end of the day, we didn’t earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.”

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English said Providence will consider accepting a bid to the NIT. The field was slated to be revealed later Sunday night.

Providence’s NCAA fate was revealed Sunday evening. The team watched the selection show behind closed doors in its locker room at the Ruane Friar Development Center on campus. The Friars had hope. They finished at 21-13 overall, with six Quad 1 victories and no losses against Quad 3 and Quad 4 teams. Two victories at the Big East Tournament helped the cause, but everything that came after Friday’s loss to Marquette did not.

North Carolina State was a surprise champion in the ACC. Duquesne emerged from an Atlantic 10 upset party. Temple beat presumptive American Athletic Conference champ Florida Atlantic in the semifinals, making that a two-bid league. Oregon claimed the Pac-12 title. New Mexico was the Mountain West champ and would have been firmly on the bubble without the title.

Those five dramatically changed the landscape for teams on the tournament bubble, including the Friars.

“It was a disappointing night, but again, it’s what you earn,” English said of the weekend’s upsets. “If you don’t take care of the games you’re supposed to take care of — Kansas State, at St. John’s, at Butler — if you don’t take care of those games, you put yourself in position to put your fate in someone else’s hands. It’s not where you want to be. It’s not where we are going to be as a program.”

Virginia, Colorado State, Colorado and Boise State were picked as the at-large representatives in the First Four. Providence and league mates St. John’s, Seton Hall and Villanova all figured to make a case when stacked against those squads. Only Seton Hall was listed among the last four out.

The Big East ultimately claimed just three bids, a stunning number for a league that ranked second nationally in KenPom ratings. Connecticut is the No. 1 overall seed. Marquette earned a No. 2 seed and Creighton a No. 3.

“I think it’s a very disappointing day for the Big East, absolutely,” English said. “Number-one-overall seed, a two seed, a three seed and no other seeds. Seton Hall with a plethora of Quad 1 wins. St. John’s with a high finish in the NET. Us, with six Quad 1 wins. Very disappointing that a league this great only gets three teams in.”

The evolution of the selection committee’s metrics seems to have hurt the Big East and its rough-and-tumble grind.

“I think the analytics are [expletive],” English said. “I think you could schedule bad teams in your non-league and beat the snot out of them, beat them by 50 or 60. Coaching for so long has been a gentleman’s agreement — you have a large lead at the end of the game, for health reasons, you take guys out. To get some other guys the opportunity to play, you take guys out. But right now might be a change in college basketball. Scheduling to beat teams by 40 and 50 might be a thing to do.

“When you get into this league, the analytics aren’t going to look very good in league. You’re playing against some really, really good coaches. We played at Connecticut and they shoot 40 percent from the field. We’re a good defense. They won the game. They should be credited for winning the game. I do think there are some flaws in the system.”

A tournament miss for Providence seemed quite possible a few months ago, when star Bryce Hopkins went down with a season-ending injury. The Friars won their first two conference games before dropping four in a row. But behind eventual Big East Player of the Year Award winner Devin Carter, they rallied the troops, winning seven of their next 10 and mixing in a few signature victories.

At Madison Square Garden, they took care of business against Georgetown, then upset second-seeded Creighton for a semifinal spot. Marquette ended the run there, putting Providence’s tournament hopes at the mercy of the committee — and all the games still left to be played.

“It’s a great lesson to us all,” English said. “Our roster building — being able to build a roster to withstand a couple of injuries and attrition in other ways. But also, too, our group as a whole. The beautiful thing is we were not without opportunities. I’m disappointed we didn’t grab hold of those opportunities better in the season. It’s up to us to do what’s best for our program in retention, in scheduling, in recruiting, to give ourselves a chance next March.”

Providence was riding a two-year streak of tournament bids, following up the 2022 Sweet 16 run with a first-round exit last year. The Friars missed the tournament in 2021 and 2019, sandwiched around the canceled 2020 event. Before that, they made five in a row from 2014 through 2018.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence basketball coach Kim English upset that Friars were snubbed