Providence will split with third-year coach Kim English after the end of this season, sources confirmed to CBS Sports. The Friars are 14-16 after Wednesday night’s 78-56 home loss to 11-19 Marquette. English’s program was picked fourth in the preseason in the Big East but is 7-12 in league play and sits as the 7-seed in what’s become a letdown season for the basketball-first conference.
The Friars’ final regular-season game is Saturday at last-place Georgetown, coached by Ed Cooley, who left PC for the Hoyas job three years ago and became a pariah in Providence in the process.
Shortly after this story published, Providence athletic director Steve Napolillo provided a statement to CBS Sports: “Kim is the coach, and as with all coaches, I will evaluate at the end of the season. We have one game left and the Big East Tournament.”
The news of English’s impending departure was first tweeted by NJ.com writer Adam Zagoria and subsequently confirmed by Kevin McNamara, a longtime local sportswriter in Providence.
English, 37, is 47-50 at Providence heading into the final weekend of the regular season and next week’s Big East Tournament. He came close to taking Providence to the NCAAs in Year 1, when the Friars were one of the closest cuts for the 2024 NCAA Tournament (entering Selection Sunday with a 21-13 record). English tutored Devin Carter to a Big East Player of the Year campaign that season. But Year 2, without Carter, was a dramatic dip: The Friars won just 12 games.
This season has been a misadventure practically from the start, the lone highlight being a Jan. 3 road win at St. John’s. It’s the Friars’ only top-60 victory this season. The high-profile low point was a loss at home to St. John’s in mid-February. That game featured an ugly near-melee instigated by Providence’s Duncan Powell. The Friars’ senior forward delivered a bad blow from behind on a fast break against St. John’s forward Bryce Hopkins, who’d spent the previous two years playing for English at PC. Powell was ejected and served a three-game suspension.
English got the Providence job after going 34-29 in his first two seasons as a head coach at George Mason. He was hired by Napolillo, who sources said will be in charge and the ultimate decider on English’s successor.
As a player, English was a four-year standout at Missouri, which led to him being the 44th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. He played professionally for three years before moving into college coaching. Providence is a private school, so the payout to English for early termination isn’t known, but the number is believed to be significant — easily north of $6 million. English initially signed a six-year deal in 2023, then had another year added to his contract after the 2023-24 season, leaving him with four years left on the agreement.
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