1996–97 Providence Friars men's basketball team

1996–97 Providence Friars men's basketball
1996–97 Providence Friars men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
Record	24–12 (10–8 Big East)
Head coach	Pete Gillen (3rd season);
Assistant coach	Tom Herrion (3rd season)
Home arena	Providence Civic Center
	Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 Providence Friars men's basketball team represented Providence College during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by head coach Pete Gillen, the Friars finished the season 24–12 (10–8 Big East) and received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the 10 seed in the Southeast region. The team made a run to the Elite Eight before losing to eventual National champion Arizona, 96–92 in OT.^[4]

1996–97 Big East men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Big East 6
No. 20 Villanova	12	–	6	.667	24	–	10	.706
No. 23 Boston College†	12	–	6	.667	22	–	9	.710
West Virginia	11	–	7	.611	21	–	10	.677
Notre Dame	8	–	10	.444	16	–	14	.533
St. John's	8	–	10	.444	13	–	15	.464
Connecticut	7	–	11	.389	18	–	15	.545
Big East 7
Georgetown	11	–	7	.611	20	–	10	.667
Providence	10	–	8	.556	24	–	12	.667
Pittsburgh	10	–	8	.556	18	–	15	.545
Miami	9	–	9	.500	16	–	13	.552
Syracuse	9	–	9	.500	19	–	13	.594
Seton Hall	5	–	13	.278	10	–	18	.357
Rutgers	5	–	13	.278	11	–	16	.407

† 1997 Big East tournament winner As of March 31, 1997^[1]^[2]^[3] Rankings from AP poll

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	3	Jason Murdock	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	Sr	Bridgewater, New Jersey
F	4	Kofi Pointer	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr	Baltimore, Maryland
G	10	Corey Wright	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	So	New York, New York
G	12	God Shammgod	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	169 lb (77 kg)	So	New York, New York
G	20	Dennis Cleary	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	So	West Orange, New Jersey
C	24	Rubén Garcés	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Sr	Colón, Panama
G	25	Mark Adams	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Clifton, New Jersey
F	32	Derrick Brown	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Brooklyn, New York
F	33	Jamel Thomas	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	Brooklyn, New York
C	34	Ndongo N'Diaye	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr	Dakar, Senegal
PF	44	Austin Croshere	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sr	Los Angeles, California
F	50	Richard Cordella	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Foxboro, Massachusetts

Head coach

Pete Gillen (Fairfield)

Assistant coach(es)

Tom Herrion (Merrimack)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

^[5]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 22, 1996		at Alaska-Fairbanks Top of the World Classic	W 98–73	1–0	Carlson Center (4,920) Fairbanks, Alaska
Nov 23, 1996*		vs. Middle Tennessee Top of the World Classic	L 75–77	1–1	Carlson Center (3,412) Fairbanks, Alaska
Nov 24, 1996*		vs. Southern Illinois Top of the World Classic	W 82–58	2–1	Carlson Center (3,000) Fairbanks, Alaska
Nov 27, 1996*		LIU Brooklyn	W 100–88	3–1	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Nov 30, 1996*		Columbia	W 74–61	4–1	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Dec 4, 1996		at No. 5 Villanova	L 64–75	4–2 (0–1)	CoreStates Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 7, 1996		Notre Dame	W 82–59	5–2 (1–1)	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Dec 10, 1996*		Rhode Island	L 79–96	5–3	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Dec 21, 1996*		Brown	W 58–44	6–3	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Dec 23, 1996*		at Wisconsin	W 59–57	7–3	Wisconsin Field House Madison, Wisconsin
Dec 28, 1996*		at Loyola Marymount	W 83–76	8–3	Gersten Pavilion Los Angeles, California
Dec 31, 1996*		No. 18 Texas	W 74–66	9–3	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Jan 2, 1997		St. John's	W 77–67	10–3 (2–1)	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Jan 6, 1997		No. 8 Villanova	W 91–68	11–3 (3–1)	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Jan 11, 1997		at Seton Hall	L 66–73	11–4 (3–2)	Continental Airlines Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey
Jan 15, 1997		at Miami (FL)	L 69–71	11–5 (3–3)	Miami Arena Miami, Florida
Jan 19, 1997		West Virginia	W 74–61	12–5 (4–3)	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Jan 25, 1997		at St. John's	W 72–59	13–5 (5–3)	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Jan 27, 1997*		Canisius	W 80–53	14–5	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Jan 29, 1997		at Connecticut	W 62–47	15–5 (6–3)	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion Storrs, Connecticut
Feb 1, 1997		Boston College	W 83–71	16–5 (7–3)	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Feb 5, 1997		Rutgers	W 73–67	17–5 (8–3)	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Feb 8, 1997		at West Virginia	L 78–90 ^OT	17–6 (8–4)	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Feb 12, 1997		at Georgetown	L 69–75	17–7 (8–5)	Capital Centre Washington, D.C.
Feb 15, 1997		Pittsburgh	W 84–70	18–7 (9–5)	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Feb 18, 1997		at Rutgers	W 79–74	19–7 (10–5)	Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey
Feb 22, 1997		at Notre Dame	L 74–86 ^OT	19–8 (10–6)	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 24, 1997		Syracuse	L 82–91 ^OT	19–9 (10–7)	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Mar 2, 1997		Georgetown	L 56–67	19–10 (10–8)	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Big East Tournament
Mar 5, 1997*	(4)	vs. (13) Rutgers First round	W 77–56	20–10	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Mar 6, 1997*	(4)	vs. (5) West Virginia Quarterfinals	W 76–69	21–10	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Mar 7, 1997*	(4)	vs. (1) No. 21 Villanova Semifinals	L 63–73	21–11	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
NCAA Tournament
Mar 14, 1997* CBS	(10 SE)	vs. (7 SE) Marquette First round	W 81–59	22–11	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Mar 16, 1997* CBS	(10 SE)	vs. (2 SE) No. 8 Duke Second Round	W 98–87	23–11	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Mar 21, 1997* CBS	(10 SE)	vs. (14 SE) Chattanooga Southeast Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 71–65^[6]	24–11	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama
Mar 23, 1997* CBS	(10 SE)	vs. (4 SE) No. 15 Arizona Southeast Regional final – Elite Eight	L 92–96 ^{OT^[4]}	24–12	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[7]^[8]

Rankings

^[9]

NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	12	Austin Croshere	Indiana Pacers

^[10]

External links

1997 Providence College Basketball Yearbook

References

^ sports-reference.com 1996-97 Big East Conference Season Summary
^ Keefe, Gavin, "Big East Notes: The Big East 7 and Big East 6? Big Deal!", The Day, January 1, 1996, p. 7.
^ "PLUS: COLLEGE BASKETBALL -- BIG EAST CONFERENCE; League Cuts Games In Search of Bids," The New York Times, August 7, 1998.
^ ^a ^b "Friars Come Close, but Arizona and Carolina Close the Deal". The New York Times. March 24, 1997. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
^ "1996-97 Providence Friars Roster and Stats". Retrieved June 13, 2020.
^ "Providence Gets Help from God". The Washington Post. March 22, 1997. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
^ "2019-20 Providence Men's Basketball Media Guide". Providence College Athletics. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
^ "1996-97 Providence Friars Schedule and Results". Retrieved June 13, 2020.
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1053–1054. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1997 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 13, 2020.

[1] sports-reference.com 1996-97 Big East Conference Season Summary

[2] Keefe, Gavin, "Big East Notes: The Big East 7 and Big East 6? Big Deal!", The Day, January 1, 1996, p. 7.

[3] "PLUS: COLLEGE BASKETBALL -- BIG EAST CONFERENCE; League Cuts Games In Search of Bids," The New York Times, August 7, 1998.

[ncaa-ariz-4] "Friars Come Close, but Arizona and Carolina Close the Deal". The New York Times. March 24, 1997. Retrieved June 6, 2021.

[5] "1996-97 Providence Friars Roster and Stats". Retrieved June 13, 2020.

[ncaa-utc-6] "Providence Gets Help from God". The Washington Post. March 22, 1997. Retrieved June 6, 2021.

[7] "2019-20 Providence Men's Basketball Media Guide". Providence College Athletics. Retrieved June 13, 2020.

[8] "1996-97 Providence Friars Schedule and Results". Retrieved June 13, 2020.

[ESPN-9] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1053–1054. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[10] "1997 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 13, 2020.

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