Multiple Authors
Providence has informed men’s basketball coach Kim English that he will be fired after the season, sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday.
English will finish out his third season as the Friars’ coach with a road game Saturday at Georgetown and then the Big East tournament. Providence dropped to 14-16 overall and 7-12 in the Big East with a 78-56 home loss to Marquette on Wednesday.
Arriving in 2023 to replace Ed Cooley, English showed considerable promise in his first year at the helm as Providence won 21 games and was one of the final teams left out of the NCAA tournament despite a run to the Big East tournament semifinals.
Editor’s Picks
1 Related
The Friars couldn’t sustain the success of that campaign, however, going just 23-35 over the last two seasons. They lost 10 of their final 11 games last season to finish 7-20 after winning their first five games. The program spent substantial money to build each of the last two rosters, but the team struggled to generate momentum this season, too.
Providence has really struggled in close games this season, dropping four in overtime and losing another six games by seven or fewer points.
A loss to St. John’s on Feb. 14 was marked by a midgame fight and seven ejections, ultimately resulting in a three-game suspension for forward Duncan Powell. The Friars were leading the No. 17 Red Storm by one point before Powell’s hard foul on Bryce Hopkins in the second half; by the time they got the ball back, they trailed by four and would go on to lose by 10.
After freshman Jamier Jones was ejected for another hard foul later in the game, English looked exasperated, covering his face with his hand and shaking his head while walking off the court.
English, 37, was the head coach at George Mason for two seasons before Providence hired him in 2023. He went 34-29 in his two seasons with the Patriots, winning 20 games in his second campaign in Fairfax.
He also spent time as an assistant coach at Tennessee, Colorado and Tulsa, following a couple of years playing professionally overseas. He was an All-Big 12 player during his career with Missouri.
The news of English’s firing was first reported by NJ.com.
