Providence basketball looks ahead to first season under new coach

PROVIDENCE — The on-court summer work is done. A three-day team retreat with a select group of Navy SEALs awaits next week. 

Providence will scatter from there before the start of first semester, the last real extended break before its 100th men’s basketball season. The Friars have answered a few questions and hope to address a few more before two exhibition games in October and the opener in November. 

Dink Pate‘s eligibility, Leonardo Marangon’s arrival from Italy, another possible roster addition and minor injuries that sidelined Ryan Mela and Samson Aletan for Thursday’s session at the Ruane Friar Development Center all linger. Providence still has time to sort out any challenges before Bryan Hodgson makes his formal coaching debut against Maine at Amica Mutual Pavilion. 

“I feel like we got better,” Hodgson said. “We’ve got a great group of young men. We were able to install not only things on the floor, but our culture — how we want things to look.” 

Pate was a headline commitment for the program after three seasons in the G League, the last with the Westchester Knicks. The rangy shooting guard declined both two-way and 10-day contracts offered by parent club New York with the intention of preserving his college eligibility. The Friars expect a favorable ruling from the NCAA while nearing the end of the process to add Pate for 2026-27. 

“Had he taken those contracts, he might have been the 15th guy on a world championship team with the New York Knicks,” Hodgson said. “Dink deserves to play college basketball. No one has told him so far that he cannot.” 

Marangon committed to Providence in April and will leave his professional club at UEB Gesteco Cividale. The Friars were initially hopeful Marangon could join them for the second half of their summer program. Marangon should offer experience and size on the wing as a 6-foot-7-inch third guard or small forward. 

“It’s a technicality at this point — getting a piece of paper in the mail from the embassy,” Hodgson said. “Once he receives that, he’ll be able to book his flight.” 

Joseph Pinion practiced in full with Providence during this last session, a shooting guard who played for Hodgson in each of the last two years at Arkansas State and South Florida. Pinion averaged double-digit points in each of those campaigns and shot 37.8% from 3-point range while making 34 starts with the Bulls in 2025-26. Pinion could be a candidate for an additional year of eligibility under the NCAA’s new five-year window, a continuous period adopted into the organization’s bylaws beginning in the 2026-27 academic year. 

“I feel like that changes by the day,” Hodgson said. “You see guys getting a court order to play an extra year. To be honest with you, there’s some understanding from me on that end. If you’re a guy who just graduated with this class, and two months after you graduate, you hear the next class is going to get an extra year, there are major financial benefits to that.  

“There are guys who had a year where maybe they played eight or 10 games. They’re thinking, ‘Man, I wish I had another year.’ So I think there’s some legitimacy there. At some point, it’s got to come to an end. We’ve got to put a hard stop on things. But I think that as a whole some of these problems could have been avoided.  

“I can tell you what we’re going to do is take advantage of every opportunity within the rules to put ourselves in the best position to win.” 

Mela and Aletan did some conditioning work along the sidelines while Clyde Walters, Jacob Bannarbie and Arrinten Page took their places in both the 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 portions of practice. Mela is the lone returning scholarship player with Providence while Aletan is a transfer from Yale who profiles as a shot-blocking big man. 

“Nothing serious,” Hodgson said. “End of summertime, we don’t want to put ourselves in a position where we make something worse than it needs to be.” 

The Black Bears start what should develop into a challenging nonconference journey for the Friars. They added another NCAA Tournament team from a season ago when VCU was announced as their first of three opponents at the Maui Invitational. Phil Martelli Jr. captured an Atlantic 10 championship and beat North Carolina in his debut with the Rams after leading Bryant to a March Madness berth in 2024-25. 

“VCU, from a roster and financial standpoint, belongs in the Big East,” Hodgson said. “They’ve spent what the Big East is spending on their rosters. They’ve retained some very good players. Coach Martelli does a phenomenal job.  

“If you find a way to get past that one, you’re going to play Arizona or Colorado State — both great teams. Everybody knows how good Arizona is. We played Colorado State last year — they were one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country.” 

bkoch@providencejournal.com 

On X: @BillKoch25 

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence basketball looks ahead to first season under new coach