Instead, the season morphed into one of the worst in the past four decades.
PC basketball is big business for the school, the Civic Center, and the City of Providence.
And there is a lot of money for players and coaches. Multiple players on the roster make six figures and Coach Kim English is going into the third year of his six-year contract.
Bryce Hopkins was selected pre-season as a first-team All-Big East selection. He would be coming back from an ACL injury, but was expected to return early in the season.
But the 2024-25 season turned into a nightmare. The Friars ended the season by losing 10 of their last 11 games.
The Friars lost 20 games in the season for the first time since 1984-85.
GoLocal breaks down how the season went off the proverbial rails.
How Bad Was This Season?
First, let’s put the season in context.
On Wednesday night, after the first-round loss to Butler, Coach Kim English said, “Disappointing outcome, but we played true to the pitiful, embarrassing season that we had.”
In the final ten games in the Big East season, the Friars were the worst in the conference.
The Friars ended the season by losing nine of their last ten conference games and then 10 of their last 11 games, counting their first-round loss to Butler in the Big East Tournament.
In contrast, perennial bottom dweller DePaul won 3 of their last ten games in the regular season and beat Georgetown in the first round of the Big East tournament,
You have to go back to Ed Cooley’s first season, Keno Davis’s last two seasons, Gordie Chiesa’s only season, and Joe Mullaney’s final season to see this level of losing in the Big East.
1984-1985: PC Overall 11–20 Big East 3–13
Gordie Chiesa (only season)
1987-1988: PC Overall: 11-17 Big East 5-11
Keno Davis (last two seasons)
2009-2010: PC Overall 12-19 Big East 4-14
2010-2011: PC Overall 15-17 Big East 4-14
Ed Cooley (first season)
2011-2012: PC Overall 15-17 Big East 4-14
Kim English (second season)
2024-2025: PC Overall 12-20 Big East 6-14
This season was the sixth-worst in the past four decades, and it was the first time in forty years that the Friars lost 20 games in a season.
Rating This Year’s Transfer Portal Players
Hopkins returned this season and, according to multiple sources, received between $700,000 and $900,000. He played in just three games. The Friars defeated BYU, lost to URI, and edged DePaul in Chicago in those three contests.
The four players who were marked to be game-changers this season each received between $300,000 and $500,000 in NIL for the season.
Jabri Abdur-Rahim — The senior shooting guard came to PC after stopping in Virginia and Georgia. He started slowly and then began to be a major force for the Friars — his best game was against St. John’s, and he led the scoring with 27 points on a career-high eight triples, but he was injured in that game and did not play again.
Wesley Cardet, Jr. — The senior struggled this season with consistency, injuries and illness. PC was his third school too. He only averaged 8.4 ppg.
Christ Essandoko — The transfer from St. Joe’s started the season injured and averaged just 4.3 ppg. A 7-0 sophomore from France, he has an upside due to his size (there are only about 3,000 7-fotters in the world), but he was a major disappointment for the Friars.
The Friars return only a handful of players.
Few close to the program believe Hopkins will return. Abdur-Rahim, Cardet, and Joseph are all seniors. If the season had played out differently those four players might have all been starters.
The future of the Friars rests arguably in three players’ hands: All-Big East rookie team members Ryan Mela and Oswin Erhunmwunse, who proved to be solid players and showed some brilliance, and redshirt sophomore Justyn Fernandez who, when he played, scored. In 26 minutes against Villanova, Fernandez scored 17 points and in 31 minutes against Xavier had 15 points. He often looked like the best athlete on the court. His block against Georgetown made highlight films.
Inexplicably Fernandez played just three minutes in the Big East tournament loss to Butler.
Essandoko does not appear to be in the Friars’ future.
The Friars are expecting Jayden Pierre and Corey Floyd, Jr. back — both were juniors this season. Rich Barron was used infrequently as a sophomore after being named to the All-Freshman Big East team last season.
If Mela, Erhunmwunse and/or Fernandez entered the portal, it would mean significant trouble for the Friars.
Recruits Coming In
English is banking on two four-star recruits to contribute immediately — Jamier Jones and Jaylen Harrell.
But, in an era in which the transfer portal dominates, accessing and paying for talent defines many programs.
Next Season
As English defined this season as “pitiful,” the PC administrators and third-party marketers will need to explain to about 10,000 season ticket holders, sponsors and donors who support the NIL funding why they should invest in the Friars again next season.
GoLocal looks at the business of sports. More than the score or the canned quotes, we dig into the money.
Today, the college sports industry is worth upwards of $20 billion, while pro sports are a $69 billion industry.
Some local college coaches make millions annually, while some Rhode Island college players make hundreds of thousands in NIL money.
