When was Providence "On Top"?

[Orangeyes]

"I grew up in Providence and it feels like the perfect fit," said Ledo. "I trust coach Cooley. He's one of the reasons that Providence can get back on top."
Came from this

 

[rrlbees]

"I grew up in Providence and it feels like the perfect fit," said Ledo. "I trust coach Cooley. He's one of the reasons that Providence can get back on top."
Came from this

They were real good when they had Ernie D and then again when Pitino coached them and we played them in the F4.

 

[Orangeyes]

They were real good when they had Ernie D and then again when Pitino coached them and we played them in the F4.

I know they were good but when were they "on top"?

 

[edowd26]

I know they were good but when were they "on top"?

like bees said... when Pitino was there... He was always on top... strictly missionary though.

 

[Flacusian]

"I grew up in Providence and it feels like the perfect fit," said Ledo. "I trust coach Cooley. He's one of the reasons that Providence can get back on top."
Came from this

Iremember back in the days of Ernie D. there were bumper stickers you would occasionally see that said
"UCLA is the Providence of the West" .

 

[Noexcuse]

Ernie D and "Bad News" Marvin Barnes. Ledo may have heard about them I suppose. And Dave Gavitt was instrumental in forming the Big East Basketball Conference so when it was established and before any League games were ever played they were on top along with everybody else.

 

[cortacuse]

This reminds me of the group that Amaker recruited to the hall in the early 2000s... Griffin, Barrett, and Dalembert...

 

[JOC44]

Well, didn't we read that Ledo isn't going to graduate from high school?

 

[Orangeyes]

Well, didn't we read that Ledo isn't going to graduate from high school?

He's going to Notre Dame Prep first and may enroll at Providence in January.

 

[pfister1]

Well, didn't we read that Ledo isn't going to graduate from high school?

He obviously shouldn't be getting his History credits.

 

[Noexcuse]

This reminds me of the group that Amaker recruited to the hall in the early 2000s... Griffin, Barrett, and Dalembert...

The problem with that strategy is the kids are generally too impatient to stick it out until they are mature enough to actually compete for a National Championship and (unless you are Kentucky) the coach can't maintain that level of recruiting to fill in the blanks from year to year when guys leave for the NBA. Either that or they aren't that good to begin with.

 

[DoctorBombay]

I like Cooley- he's like PC's basketball version of Marrone... homeboy, dream job, etc.

When you come into a program with a vision, and you can translate that vision to recruits & fans, who knows what can happen?

He's one of their own- good luck to 'em!

 

[VaSaltine]

Final Four in 87, guess they made the top of their bracket.

 

[FriarJ]

In the 60's and the early to mid 70's Providence was the Mecca of college basketball in NE and throughout the east. That's why Gavitt had so much power and influence in the creation of the BE. The Providence Civic Center was one of the first large off campus arena's in the country and it was a nightmare for opposing teams during the 1st half of the 70's. I believe they may have won like their 1st 90 games in it. It was all started by a coach named Joe Mullaney in the early 60's. He had great players, Lenny Wilkens, John Thompson, Jimmy Walker, and others and is the inventor of the matchup zone defense.

Since the formation of the BE they have only seen any level of great success in a few seasons 87 when we could beat everybody but Cuse, 94 winning a BE title and 97 losing to National Champion Arizona in OT in the elite 8.

PC is Rhode Islands team and it has a large, loud fan base begging for relevance. Ledo know this having grown up there, hence his comments.

 

[Orangeyes]

When is the last time they were ranked #1 in the nation or won a national championship? That's what I think of when someone says, "He's one of the reasons that Providence can get back on top."

You can't get back on top if you've never been on top but you can get to the top, that's all I'm saying.

 

[FriarJ]

Yes I get that, it's hard to say, PC won the NIT twice in the early 60's when all the top teams chose that instead of the NCAA. Let's just assume he meant back to being one of the top teams, anyway it's been 35+ years. A long long friggin time.