PC Student Newspaper: “The [Kim] English Era Is Over”

PC Student Newspaper: “The [Kim] English Era Is Over”

 

The Providence College student newspaper, The Cowl, has declared that Kim English’s tenure as the head coach of the PC men’s basketball team must end.

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In the world of college newspapers, The Cowl is rarely controversial.

But this full banner headline story, written by Connor Whalen, takes a strong stance and echoes the concerns that many in the media and fans have raised after a disastrous season for the Friars.

After the preseason, Big East coaches' polls predicted the Friars for fourth in the eleven-team conference; Friar fans had high expectations.

But the season has turned into a nightmare with the Friars repeating leading in games. 

College basketball is big business. Players are paid hundreds of thousands and some are over a million. Coaches in the Big East are paid millions.

“There is only one step the Friars can make to move in a positive direction, and that is to fire head coach Kim English. The English era is over,” writes Whalen.

GoLocal chronicled the last-minute losses by the Friars this season, and that was before the massive collapse against Georgetown University at home.

 

Losing in Final Minutes This Season

Virginia Tech: The Friars led late in the game. A pair of Edwards free throws gave the Friars the two-point lead before a Virginia Tech timeout (1:06). 

But, a put-back layup by Virginia Tech tied the game at 86 with 7 seconds remaining. The Friars brought the ball up the court and called a timeout with 3.8 seconds remaining.  But PC missed a close shot and then lost in OT 107-101.

Butler: The Friars lost 113-110 in double-overtime. In the second overtime, Butler made a second-chance three-pointer and took a three-point lead with 35 seconds remaining. With 22 seconds remaining, Vaaks missed a potential three-pointer to tie the game. Butler missed a pair of free throws, giving the Friars one last look. Sellers missed a three-pointer as Butler led 113-110 at the end of regulation.  

Seton Hall: PC lost 72-67 and let a late lead get away in the final two minutes. A driving effort from Jamier Jones gave Providence the lead after a Seton Hall bucket, 65-64 (1:53).  Then, Seton Hall responded with two free throws before Sellers drove and was fouled, knocking down two free throws, making it 67-66, Providence (1:16).  

Seton Hall connected on a three-pointer that was followed by a midrange jumper to give them the 71-67 lead with under 10 seconds remaining. The Friars failed to score in the final 75 seconds as Seton Hall held onto a 72-67 lead at the final buzzer.  

UConn: The most excruciating loss was PC surrendering an 11-point lead at home with 3 minutes left and then losing in overtime to the Huskies. 

PC had led 86-75 (3:12) and was outscored 14-3. 

A plethora of substitutions in the final two minutes seemed to add to the chaos.

Regulation ended tied at 89. In overtime, the Huskies pulled away and won 103 to 98.  

Creighton: It was a PC win, but Creighton was able to cut the lead to 3 points less than 5 seconds in the game. The Friars ultimately won 93-88 after a PC offensive foul and fouling a Creighton 3-point shooter in the final seconds.

Marquette: If the other collapses were not painful enough, Monday night’s loss to a 1-7 Marquette may go down in Friar history as one of the most painful losses.

The Friars led by 4 with less than a minute left in the game.

Marquette freshman Nigel James Jr. drained a 3-pointer with 21 seconds to cut the Friars' lead to one.

The Friars were leading by 3 in the final seconds, but Sellers fouled James on a 3-pointer with 2.3. He hit all three to send the game to overtime.

It was the second game in a row where PC fouled a 3-point shooter in the final seconds.

Then, PC had the ball with the score tied at 104-104, and Corey Floyd, Jr. turned over the ball and then fouled Ben Gold, who hit one of two of the free throws.

PC got the ball with 3.5 seconds left, giving Vaaks a long 3-pointer at the buzzer, but he was off the mark.

Georgetown: Friars lost, after leading by 21 points in the second half to Ed Cooley and the Hoyas.

English was loudly booed during and after the game by Friar fans.

 

Situation:

Presently, the Friars are 2-9 in the Big East and in last place.

There are nine games left in the season, and then the Big East tournament. Unless the Friars win the conference championship, the season will end in early March.

This story was first published at 1/31/26 5:29 PM