Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Pittsburgh (Exhibition) on October 17, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Men's Basketball
vs Pittsburgh (Exhibition)
2:00 PM
Providence College Athletics
Saturday, October 17
Providence, R.I.
2:00 PM
Providence College
vs
Pittsburgh (Exhibition)
Men's Basketball Exhibition Game Notes Versus Pittsburgh
10/15/2026 5:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Friars will host the Panthers on Saturday at the AMP at 2 p.m.
Friar Notes:
*The Friars will open their 100th season of basketball on Monday, Nov. 2 versus Maine at the AMP.
*The Friars will host two exhibition games against ACC opponents to begin the season - Pittsburgh on Oct. 17 and Georgia Tech on Oct. 24.
*Bryan Hodgson was named the 17th men's basketball coach at Providence College on March 22, 2026.
*Hodgson came to Providence after spending the 2025-26 season as the head coach at the University of South Florida and the previous two seasons as the head coach at Arkansas State University.
*In the 2025-26 season as the head coach at USF, Hodgson led the team to its most successful campaign in program history, posting a 25-9 record, winning both the American Conference regular-season title and the conference championship, earning the team an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
*Hodgson was named the 2025-26 American Conference Coach of the Year.
*In his three seasons as a head coach, Bryan Hodgson has recorded a 70-37 mark (.654), setting the program single-season win record at Arkansas State in the 2024-25 season (25 wins) and tying the program single-season win record at South Florida in the 2025-26 season (25 wins).
*The Friars have 13 newcomers and two returners on the roster this season.
*Miles Byrd (Stockton, Calif.) and Devin Vanterpool (Laurel, Md.) have been named team captains.
*Ryan Mela (Natick, Mass.) and John Jackson (Ridgewood, N.J.) are the lone returners for the Friars. Mela enters his third season with the team.
*Ryan Sabol (Washington, D.C.) ranked first in the Mid-American Conference last season in three-point field goals made (122) and three-point field goal attempts (306) and he was second in three-point field goal percentage (.399).
*Miles Byrd (Stockton, Calif.) came to Providence after four seasons with San Diego State, where he was a two-time All-Mountain West Conference selection and was named the 2025-26 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year.
*Devin Vanterpool (Laurel, Md.) ranked 10th in the American Conference last season in scoring (15.8 ppg) and eighth in rebounds per game (6.3).
*Malik Mack (Oxon Hill, Md.) averaged 13.6 points and 4.1 assists last season at Georgetown. After earning Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors, he spent his next two seasons at Georgetown.
*Javon Bardwell (Harlem, N.Y.) is the third highest ranked recruit ever to commit to PC, according to ESPN.com, 247Sports.com and Rivals.com. He is ranked No. 33 (11th for small forwards) by 247Sports.com, No. 35 (10th for small forwards) according to ESPN.com and No. 36 (11th for small forwards) by Rivals.com.Â
FRIARS TO PLAY PITTSBURGH IN EXHIBITION OPENER: The Providence College men's basketball team will play Pittsburgh in an exhibition game on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 2 p.m. The game will be played at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. The Friars have posted a 17-31 mark all-time versus the Panthers. The Friars are 13-10 at home, 3-20 at Pittsburgh and 1-1 in neutral arenas versus Pittsburgh. In the first meeting ever between the two teams, Providence defeated Pitt, 101-80, at Madison Square Garden on March 18, 1975 in New York. In the last meeting between the two teams, the Friars were defeated by the Panthers, 68-64, on January 22, 2013 in Providence at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. Last season, the two teams played an exhibition game in Pittsburgh, with the Panthers earning the win on October 19, 2025.
FRIARS TO PLAY GEORGIA TECH IN SECOND EXHIBITION GAME: The Friars will play their final exhibition game of the 2026-27 season versus Georgia Tech on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 12 p.m., at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. It will mark the first meeting all-time between the two teams and the second exhibition game this season versus an ACC opponent.Â
BYRD NAMED PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST: It was announced on Oct. 1 that graduate student Miles Byrd (Stockton, Calif.) was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team. Byrd, who transferred to Providence after spending the 2025-26 season at San Diego State, started all 33 games and averaged 10.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.9 steals for the Aztecs last season. For his efforts, he was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year and Third Team All-Mountain West. He also earned 2026 Second Team All-NABC Pacific District honors. Byrd, a 6-6, 200-pound guard, played for San Diego State the last four seasons. In his four seasons at San Diego State, he helped lead the Aztecs to a 101-39 mark. The team also made three trips to the NCAA Tournament, including a berth in the NCAA title game in 2023. Â
FRIARS PICKED FIFTH IN PRESEASON BIG EAST POLL: It was announced on Oct. 1 that the Friars received 59 points in the Preseason BIG EASTÂ poll and were selected to finish fifth of 11 teams. UConn was picked first (98 points) and was followed by St. John's (90 points), Villanova (81 points) and Marquette (73 points). Xavier was picked sixth (54 points) and Creighton was selected seventh (47 points). DePaul (32 points), Seton Hall (31 points), Georgetown (27 points) and Butler (13 points) were picked eighth through 11th, respectively.
FRIARS ALL-TIME IN EXHIBITION GAMES: The Friars have posted a 69-24 mark all-time in exhibition games. Last season, the Friars recorded a 1-1 mark with a loss at Pittsburgh and win over Harvard. Â
FRIARS TO PLAY MAINE TO OPEN THE SEASON: The Friars will open the 2026-27 season versus Maine on Monday, November 2 at Amica Mutual Pavilion. The Friars have posted a 12-1 mark all-time versus Maine, including a 1-0 record in season openers. The last time PC played Maine in an opener, the Friars defeated the Black Bears, 75-73, in overtime on November 25, 1978 at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. The last time the two teams met, the Friars earned a 79-59 win at the Amica Mutual Pavilion on Dec. 20, 2017. Providence has posted a 12-1 mark all-time versus Maine with all the games being played at the AMP.
FRIARS VERSUS THE AMERICA EAST:Â The Friars have posted a 74-3 mark all-time versus teams from the America East. Last season, the Friars were 1-0 versus America East opponents with a 98-66 victory over New Hampshire at the AMP on Nov. 18, 2025.
FRIARS ALL-TIME IN SEASON OPENERS: The Friars will open their 100th season of basketball on Monday, November 2 versus Maine at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. The Friars have registered an 88-11 (.889) mark all-time in regular-season openers. In addition, the Friars hold a 91-8 (.919) record in home openers. The Friars open the 2026-27 season at home for the 26th time in 27 years. The only time in the past 26 seasons the Friars did not open at home was the 2007-08 season, when they played Temple in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Providence has won 17 consecutive home openers and 23 of the last 24 openers, with the lone defeat coming in the 2008-09 game against Northeastern. Last season, the Friars opened the season with an 89-79 win over Holy Cross at the AMP on November 3, 2025.
BIRD AND VANTERPOOL NAMED CAPTAINS: Junior Devin Vanterpool (Laurel, Md.) and graduate student Miles Byrd (Stockton, Calif.) have been named captains of the 2026-27 Friars.
TEE BUTTERS SELECTED TO SILVER WAVES 100 MOST IMPACTFUL ASSISTANT COACHES: It was announced on Wednesday, Oct. 7 that Providence College men's basketball Associate Head Coach/General Manager Tee Butters was selected to the 2026 Silver Waves Media 100 Most Impactful/Influential High Major Assistant Coaches in the country. Butters enters his first season as an associate head coach/general manager at Providence College. Most recently, Butters was an associate head basketball coach at the University of South Florida for the 2025-26 season. He helped the Bulls capture the AAC Regular Season and Conference Tournament titles after posting a 25-9 mark. The squad also earned the Bulls' first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2012.
FRIARS ALL-TIME VERSUS TOP-25 TEAMS:Â The Friars have posted a 134-291 (.315) mark all-time versus top-25 teams, including a 1-2 mark last season.
FRIARS SELL OUT SEASON TICKETS AGAIN IN 2026-27: In 2023-24, the Friars sold out of season tickets at the Amica Mutual Pavilion for the first time ever. Again in 2026-27, the team sold its entire season ticket allotment for the arena. It marked the fourth consecutive season that the Friars sold out of season tickets. In 2025-26, a total of 163,340 fans watched the Friars at the AMP in 16 home games. It was an average of 10,209 fans - the 11th highest single season average at the AMP. The 2023-24 season marked the first time a complete sell out of season tickets occurred since the team moved to the AMP when it opened in 1972. As a result, the Friars had 211,147 fans watch the team play 19 games at the AMP. That average of 11,113 per game is the highest single-season mark in the history of the program. The total of 211,147 is the second highest number of fans to watch the Friars at home in the history of the program. In 1991, 211,498 fans attended 20 home games at the AMP. The 211,147 fans in 2023-24, also marked just the second time in the history of the program that the team drew more than 200,000 fans in a single season.
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FRIARS ARE 116-6 IN NON-CONFERENCE HOME GAMES OVER THE LAST 16 YEARS: The Friars have posted a 116-6 mark (.951) in their last 16 seasons in non-conference home games. The team's six losses over the last 16 years were to Brown (77-67) on December 8, 2014, Minnesota (86-74) on November 13, 2017, UMass (79-78) on December 7, 2018, Arkansas (84-72) on March 19, 2019, Penn (81-75) on November 23, 2019 and Boston College (62-57) on March 19, 2024. The Friars are 39-1 in their last 40 non-conference home games (2025-26, 6-0; 2024-25, 6-0; 2023-24, 8-1; 2022-23, 7-0; 2021-22, 8-0; 2020-21, 2-0; 2019-20, 2-0).
FRIARS IN OVERTIME: The Friars recorded a 1-4 record in overtime games in 2025-26. They have recorded an 81-75 mark all-time in overtime games. The Friars have posted a 9-1 mark in their last 10 overtime games at the AMP.
FRIARS AT THE AMICA MUTUAL PAVILION: All-time, the Friars have recorded a 652-255 (.719) mark in 53 seasons of games at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. The AMP, formerly the Providence Civic Center and the Dunkin' Donuts Center, opened on November 3, 1972. The Friars had played their home games there for 48 consecutive seasons, prior to the 2020-21 season when the team played on campus at Alumni Hall with no fans in attendance due to the pandemic. PC posted a 15-2 mark at the AMP in 2022-23 and a 16-1 record in 2021-22 -- the team's best record at home since 1973-74.
PROVIDENCE COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The 2026-27 campaign marks the 100th season of basketball at Providence College. Since the program started in 1926-27, Providence has posted a 1,591-1,079 mark, good for a .596 winning percentage. The Friars have made the NCAA Tournament 22 times and the National Invitation Tournament on 21 occasions.
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