Kim English says Providence will have the DEEPEST team in the Big East

Summary

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Eye On College Basketball: Kim English says Providence will have the DEEPEST team in the Big East

Date: October 26, 2025
Guest: Kim English (Head Coach, Providence Friars)
Hosts: Gary Parrish & Matt Norlander

Episode Overview

In this episode, Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander welcome Providence Friars’ head coach, Kim English, for a candid and insightful conversation ahead of the 2025–26 college basketball season. The discussion covers Providence's preseason ranking, how Kim has rebuilt his roster through the transfer portal, reflections on last season’s struggles, the impact of injuries and depth, and philosophical takes on program-building and the evolving financial landscape of the Big East. English confidently predicts that his Friars will be the deepest team in the league and gives listeners a peek into the team's culture and expectations for the year.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Providence’s Preseason Ranking & Early-Season Preparation

• [01:37] The Big East preseason poll just released with Providence picked 4th.
• Kim English reacts with humility, noting the competitiveness throughout the Big East:

  “Our league is pretty even…just excited to get going.” – Kim English [02:02]

• With Harvard and Holy Cross upcoming, Providence is aiming to set the tone early.

2. Takeaways from Preseason Exhibition vs. Pittsburgh

• [02:17] Coaches use exhibitions to test principles, not necessarily scout specifics.
• Kim English:

  “Those games are good…You purposely go in blind. You really want to see how your principles hold out and it’s good to get it on film, to watch it, and get back to work.” – Kim English [02:33]

3. Depth & Roster Construction Philosophy

• [03:13] English highlights the depth of his 2025–26 team as a major strength:

  “Our depth is real this year…10, 11 really good players…very competitive, very tough group of guys.” – Kim English [03:37]

• Providence plans to play a faster style to unlock the advantages of depth.

4. Strategic Portal & Recruiting Moves

• [04:15] English’s approach to the transfer portal:
  • Sought proven college players—Jason Edwards, Jalen Sellers, Duncan Powell, Daquan Davis, Cole Hargrove, Stefan Vox—with known track records.
  • Prioritized familiarity and certainty, even discovering talent through unusual scouting (e.g., watching film on other prospects).

  “It was guys we felt like we knew...Excited about our group.” – Kim English [04:31]

5. How and When is “10-deep” Real?

• [05:31] The test for depth is in how the season unfolds and, critically, maintaining health:

  “I couldn’t fathom not playing any of them…Number 11, whoever number 11 is, can help you win Big East games.” – Kim English [05:46]

6. Lessons from a Tough Season & Off-Season Adjustments

• [06:17] Kim English is candid about last season’s struggles:

  “Yeah, no, it was, you know, probably the worst year of my life…self-reflection, absolutely.” – Kim English [06:33]

• He examined everything, including practice intensity and injury causes, consulting widely and even bringing in outside medical experts.

7. Keeping Players Healthy: Medical Innovations & Consulting

• [07:44] Sought advice from both close contacts and top professionals, notably Arnie Kander (Orlando Magic medical director):

  “His teams…consistently had the highest participation rate in the league. So a real talk about what we can do to keep our guys healthy.” – Kim English [08:01]

8. Big East Financial “Advantage” & Future of the League

• [08:27] The hosts probe the narrative around Big East’s financial edge in the new era of college sports economics:

  “If it is a thing, it won’t be for long...we need to be real rapidly constantly thinking of how we can stay on the cutting edge.” – Kim English [09:00]

• English is skeptical that the advantage will persist as other leagues will rapidly adapt.

9. Team Culture & Defining a Successful Season

• [09:48] What will define Providence’s season?

  “If we stay healthy...get a unity and a togetherness amongst this group…because minutes may go down with the depth, but the value, the impact and the efficiency can’t.” – Kim English [09:53]

• He emphasizes selflessness and team focus, noting no player is likely to average 30 minutes—a collective mentality is paramount.

10. Predictions and Perspective on Polls

• [10:40] The hosts note the rarity of a team bouncing back so fast after a down year.
• English throws cold water on preseason hype:

  “Marquette was ninth. They swept the league.” – Kim English [10:58]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Depth:

  “10, 11 really good players…very competitive, very tough group of guys.” – Kim English [03:37]

• On Team Success:

  “If we stay healthy…get a unity and a togetherness amongst this group…the value, the impact and the efficiency can’t [drop].” – Kim English [09:53]

• On Perspective:

  “Marquette was ninth. They swept the league.” – Kim English [10:58]

• On Professional Development:

  “I brought in medical teams, consulted, flew all over the country talking to different…people on player wellness and availability.” – Kim English [06:33]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:37 – Providence picked 4th in Big East preseason poll; Coach reacts
• 02:33 – Exhibition vs. Pittsburgh: philosophy & takeaways
• 03:37 – The team’s depth and competitiveness discussed
• 04:31 – Portal and recruiting strategy; key new faces
• 05:46 – On maximizing a deep rotation
• 06:33 – Reflecting on last season and making changes
• 08:01 – Innovating for player health (Arnie Kander mention)
• 09:00 – Big East finances: real advantage or temporary
• 09:53 – Keys to a successful season for Providence
• 10:58 – Preseason polls perspective (Marquette reference)

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Episode Tone and Takeaways

The conversation was honest, focused, and forward-looking. Kim English balanced optimism about his revamped, deep Providence roster with humility and a strong emphasis on health, unity, and adaptability. Listeners heard a coach determined to reshape his program—learning from the past, maximizing new opportunities, and staying ahead of structural changes in college basketball.

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Transcript

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[Podcast Host]

Kim English, the head coach of the Providence Friars, joins us on the ION College Basketball podcast. And actually as we get going here, the league just released its preseason media poll. Your Friars narrowly but nevertheless picked fourth in the league. Response reaction Kim English to the, to the respect from the league coaches there because just full transparency, I did not pick you fourth in the league so I have to own this immediately.

[Kim English]

I mean, yeah, I mean yeah, it, it's. No, I think, I think our league is pretty even throughout, you know, so just yeah. Excited to get get going. We got a week here before Harvard and then another week before we open up with Holy Cross.

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[Podcast Host]

What did you learn from, what did you learn from your exhibition against Pittsburgh? And as a coach, I know fans are just so eager and thirsty and hungry for anything, so they're going to glom onto stuff. As a coach, what do you take, what do you not take from these exhibitions that are obviously becoming more and more popular?

[Kim English]

You know, at a time in the, in the practice season when it starts to get, the guys get a little sick of playing each other, it's good to just play someone new. Those games are good you know, because a lot of those first games especially, you purposely go in blind. You know, you, you introduce them to personnel a little bit, you know, shooters, drivers, offensive rebounders. But from a defensive standpoint, you know, you guarding their stuff or them guarding your stuff, you really want to see how your principles hold out and it's good, it's good to, to get it on film, to watch it and, and get back to work.

[Podcast Host]

We texted a few days back and I know you've had some NBA personnel in to see your team give us a little bit of early insights on, on what you're seeing that's giving you encouragement. I know last year was a down season and now you're expecting. Knowing you, Cam, I, I know you're probably literally going to be as laser focused as, as any coach in this league. So what, what have you seen early behind the scenes who's kind of stood out and what's the word?

[Kim English]

Yeah, like our group, you know, our depth is, is, is real this year and you know, hopefully we're, we're going to try to play faster to get to that depth and give guys an opportunity, you know, because you know, 10, 11 really good players, you know, and the guys we brought in have been great. You know, our returners have had really good camps. They didn't play well the other night against pit, but they've been really good in, in practice. So I like our group. Very competitive, very tough group of guys.

[Podcast Host]

What did you do portal wise after the end of last season? What were the priorities? What did you have to change? What did you, what did you not change? Just curious about your general approach as you know, for that month long month plus process to, to building up what's going to be a top five team in the league.

[Kim English]

Great question. It's just really wanted out and get guys where it wasn't much of a leap of faith and what they could do. Jason Edwards, Jalen Sellers, you know, Duncan Powell, you know, experienced college guys that have put it in the books, you know, Daquan Davis, someone that we knew intimately, committed to us out of high school. Cole Hargrove, you know, was a kid we saw watching someone else on film and then he got in the portal, you know, so it was, it was guys we felt like we knew. Stefan Vox, a kid we watched towards the end of our season play his professional season in Europe, who we fell in love with while we were still playing, you know, so we got to get some early legwork in there and got him done. The freshman we know recruited for a Long time. Jalen Harrell, Jameer Jones. So yeah. Excited about our group.

[Podcast Host]

Say your hope you can be 10 deep. When will you know you are like as a coach when you go through that seat, like, do you have a good sense that you can be that deep? You know, week one of the season or is it like, nah, catch me mid January and then I'll know if I actually can stay healthy. Obviously.

[Kim English]

Yeah, health is, health is everything. But we need to be because they're. I couldn't fathom not playing any of them. You know, number 11, whoever number 11 is, it's going to be a guy that, I mean has helped. It can play, can help you win Big east games, you know. So yeah, we gotta stay healthy and get those guys at the back end of that 10 to maximize and feel good about that, you know, what is it, 15, 13, 15 minutes a game, you know.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Are there was yet? It was last season. Just like a down year, you kind of tossed to the side or do you genuinely like reflect and be like, okay, here's what I did wrong, here's what I learned from. I'm just curious, you know. You've got a very intriguing mindset.

[Kim English]

Yeah, no, it was, you know, probably the worst year of my life. You know, right there with 2010, 11 in college, you know, my junior year, which, you know, again, very similar off seasons, you know, very, very similar years in a way. I mean we weren't that bad. Obviously we didn't miss the tournament. But yeah, very, very tough year. And self reflection. Absolutely. You know, and you know, how we attacked getting the guys to stay, how we attacked the acquisitions, how we attacked this off season. You know, I, I had to look at myself for a lot of the injuries. Is this a wear and tear issue? Is, are the summers too hard? Are we going too long? I brought in medical teams, consulted, flew all over the country talking to different, you know, people on, on player wellness and availability, you know. So I like our group. We've had a few things this fall. Nothing. I mean things sicknesses, things you can't control. But you know, we're, we're pretty healthy and ready to go.

[Podcast Host]

You talk about, you flew around to talk to a bunch of people. Are the, are the, are these that you had known for a number of years or did it, was it a situation where maybe like you had a really close friend in the business?

[Kim English]

Yeah, a little bit of both.

[Podcast Host]

Just curious if there's a particular trip or person that that might be that I might be surprised to learn about or just I don't know that that brought good insight.

[Kim English]

Yeah, a little bit of both. You know, one of my closest friends is the medical director of the Orlando Magic. His name is Arnie Kander. I think he's like the best guy. Yeah. His teams that he's a part of in Detroit, in Minneapolis, they consistently had the highest participation rate in the league. So a real talk about, you know, what we can do, you know, to keep our guys healthy.

[Podcast Host]

I do. I like that a lot. Big picture on the Big East. We have not talked about this. I'm wondering how much is the discussion within the coaching ranks, in particular over the past six months about the Big east being at a certain financial advantage. How much do you think that is real and how much might be a little bit of bluster as the house settlement has come into play. And, and some coaches are obviously uncomfortable with the idea that theoretically your average Big east program and revenue sharing will be able to afford dishing out 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 more million dollars for its men's basketball program than schools that are obviously have power conference football.

[Kim English]

Yeah, I don't. I mean, I'll tell you this. It, if it is a thing, it won't be for long. You know, the SEC are not going to sit idly and just, you know, not be able to compete financially. So yeah, we need to be real rapidly constantly thinking of how we can stay on the, the cutting edge.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Kim English]

So yeah, you're ahead of the curve.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, exactly. You're not feeling as though the so called advantage the league has, if there even is one now you're not, you're just the way the world just. You've been around basketball too long to think that this is going to be the reality that you sit in say three years from now.

[Kim English]

Yeah. We need to stay aggressive. Okay.

[Podcast Host]

All right, fair enough. It will be a successful season for Providence basketball. Fill in the blank.

[Kim English]

Yeah. If we, if, if, if we stay healthy, if we're healthy. I've liked our teams when we're healthy, you know, and if we can, you know, quickly get a unity and a togetherness amongst this group, you know. You know, because minutes may go down with the depth, but, but the value, the impact and the, and the efficiency can't. So it is a, it's a re. Triggering of your mind, you know, nobody will probably average 30 minutes a game on our team. You know, 26, 27 is a lot of minutes, you know. So, you know, making sure you're thinking about the collective and, and having guys bought into that.

[Podcast Host]

Well, it's not common for a team to have had the offer down here that you guys had a season ago and then come back the next season, be a preseason top four team in the eyes of the coaches. So congrats on that. I know you're like, don't give me it. I don't want to. I don't want to hear that.

[Kim English]

No. What is it?

[Podcast Host]

I mean, what does it mean? It's all predictions. Yeah.

[Kim English]

Marquette was ninth. They swept the league. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

That's a wonderful point. Yeah, I know.

[Kim English]

I hear you. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Kim English, Eye on college basketball podcast. Appreciate you and we'll see you out throughout the season.

[Kim English]

Thank you. You can be anything. This I Paramount podcasts.

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[Kim English]

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