Providence College has agreed to a one-year contract extension with men’s basketball coach Kim English, restoring the initial six-year term he negotiated when hired away from George Mason last March.
The Friars announced the new deal on Friday morning. School president Fr. Kenneth R. Sicard, athletic director Steve Napolillo and English were all quoted in the official release, which will keep English with the program through the 2029-30 season.
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“The support from our fans, the donors, and the community was overwhelming this past season, and that support is one of the many reasons that I believe our program can have success moving forward,” English said. “I look forward to the exciting times ahead as we work to compete for championships.”
English finished 21-14 in his debut season with Providence, reaching the NIT before bowing out in the opening round against Boston College. The Friars overcame the January loss of standout forward Bryce Hopkins to remain competitive in the Big East, advancing to the conference tournament semifinals. Devin Carter blossomed into the league Player of the Year and is a potential first-round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.
“Given the challenges from last season, he has shown an innate ability to inspire his players to persevere with confidence,” Sicard said. “We appreciate his commitment to our program, and we look forward to him doing so for many years to come.”
English spent two years with the Patriots before being tabbed to replace Ed Cooley. It was no small task — Cooley, the city native, rebuilt Providence into a perennial postseason contender before leaving after 12 years for conference rival Georgetown. English was left to restore the confidence of Friars fans and refresh a roster that included Hopkins, Carter, Jayden Pierre, Corey Floyd Jr. and Rafael Castro.
“His ability to lead and teach our student-athletes is special,” Napolillo said. “I am excited that we are able to strengthen our commitment to Kim and his staff with this contract extension and look forward to competing for Big East championships moving forward.”
Providence does not disclose specific financial or ancillary terms in its coaching contracts. But if the Friars follow common practices in the college coaching world, this extension could have meant raises for English and his assistants. Providence also could have offered additional program amenities like concrete pledges to name, image and likeness pools and guarantees regarding the funding for or creation of certain staff positions.
The University of Rhode Island signed current Connecticut coach Dan Hurley to three contract extensions during his six years in Kingston. The first focused on the program with additional charter flights, assistant coaching salary pool and nutritional needs for players both before and after practices and games. Providence already operates at a high-major level in terms of facilities, travel and any other player comforts so there are only so many areas in which they could currently expand.
“It’s heaven, man,” English said late Thursday, appearing on The Field of 68 podcast and speaking about coaching in his new league. “It’s such great basketball. And it started in Ponte Vedra (Florida) at our league meetings — just the professionalism of it all.”
English counts previous time as an assistant coach at Tulsa, Colorado and Tennessee. He worked under former Friars head coach Rick Barnes with the Volunteers, spending two years in Knoxville before departing. English was a standout guard in the Big 12 at Missouri and shrugged off any direct comparisons between that league’s tournament in Kansas City and the Big East’s current format at Madison Square Garden.
“You can’t even compare,” English said. “The Big 12 Tournament is cute compared to the Big East Tournament in New York City. It’s good. And I played in it — I won it twice. It’s good.
“But you’re talking about Connecticut, Providence, St. John’s in the semifinals — it’s different.”
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence basketball adds a year to coach Kim English’s contract
