English in his office with a “ Mindset ” sign , a motivational word the coach uses often . Steve Napolillo , below right , vice president and director of athletics at Providence College .
All-Star Carmelo Anthony , offered Little Kim advice when he was in college .
“ Basketball was my everything ,” recalls English . “ When other kids were going to the prom and homecoming and senior trips , I just wanted to know every single thing there was to know about this game . I ’ m still that little boy , chasing this game .”
English blossomed into a talented , sixfoot-five player who could shoot and defend . He went to Missouri , where he played in two NCAA tournaments and won two Big Twelve tournaments , including his senior year when he was named the most outstanding player .
The Detroit Pistons drafted him in the second round of the 2012 NBA draft , and his fellow rookies voted him the most likely secondround pick to succeed . But he averaged just ten minutes and 2.9 points his rookie year , and the next year was cut . Over the next two seasons , he would have unsuccessful tryouts with the Chicago Bulls and Orlando Magic while playing in Italy , France and Venezuela .
It was a tough time , his mother says , and he had an epiphany . During his long love affair with basketball , English realized he had pursued the wrong dream — getting to the NBA , not staying there . It ’ s a lesson that he shares with his players .
“ I didn ’ t live in the gym as much as I had . I wasn ’ t as obsessive over my individual improvement … in college , I literally slept in the gym ,” he says .
English still looks like he did the day he was drafted and could still be playing — as he proves to his players when he challenges them to go one-on-one , jumps into drills or runs sprints with them . But after two years of living out of suitcases , he chose to follow his passion to coach . When his college coach , Frank Haith , tried to dissuade him , English stayed up late in Europe watching college
film and sending his coach scouting reports .
“ I ’ ve always thought about the game differently ,” says English . Growing up , his mother notes , he would sit next to his coach , listening and learning .
English went to work for Haith as his assistant at Tulsa in 2015 and rocketed through the ranks — two years apiece as an assistant in Tulsa , Colorado and Tennessee . In Tennessee , he found a mentor in Rick Barnes , who coached at Providence from 1988 to 1994 . The two FaceTime daily .
“ I love him to death ,” says Barnes . “ When we met , I knew that he had ‘ it .’ He wants to get better every day , and he ’ s fearless and won ’ t back down . He ’ s also genuine and likes to engage people . He ’ s going to do a great job getting out there and meeting the Friar Faithful .”
In 2021 , English landed his first head coaching job at George Mason , where Barnes also had his first head job before coming to Providence . English was 14-16 his first season , then 20-13 last season , battling injuries to win eight close games down the stretch . The day the Patriots ’ season ended with a loss in the Atlantic 10 tournament , Georgetown fired its coach , Patrick Ewing , the former Hoyas star and NBA Hall of Famer .
The first domino that would bring Kim English to Providence had fallen .
FATHER JORDAN ZAJAC was teaching his Renaissance Literature class at Providence College on the Monday the news broke that Ed Cooley was going to Georgetown .
His students quickly shifted to a discussion of what this would mean for the basketball renaissance Cooley had created in his twelve seasons at PC — an unparalleled stretch of stability and success not seen since Dave Gavitt in the 1970s .
“ It felt like dad was getting a divorce from mom ,” recalls Father Jordan . “ Coach Cooley was a father figure . The students felt betrayed and abandoned .”
The rumors swirled for weeks that Cooley wanted a change , but people didn ’ t want to believe it . He was the hometown hero , born and raised in South Providence , not like other successful coaches — Rick Pitino , Rick Barnes — who weren ’ t rooted here and eventually left for higher-profile jobs .
Cooley and former athletic director Bob Driscoll had upgraded PC ’ s fundraising and athletic facilities , opening the gleaming $ 30 million Ruane Friar Development Center in 2018 and providing the resources for the program to compete at a high level . Cooley , named the 2022 Naismith Men ’ s Coach of the Year after leading the Friars to the Big East regular-season title and NCAA Sweet Sixteen , seemed poised to take the program to the next level — a Final Four or even the school ’ s first national championship . The Amica Mutual Pavilion , or AMP , had become one of the toughest home courts in the country , with students singing along to Taylor Swift ’ s “ You Belong With Me ” as the Friars closed out another fierce Big East battle .
The new athletic director , Steve Napolillo , who had been Driscoll ’ s right-hand man for eighteen years , says he saw signs in January that Cooley might leave , and started doing his due diligence on a possible replacement . He turned to former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese , who had worked with Gavitt at Providence College and is widely respected throughout college basketball .
They identified English as a rising star , and Tranghese vetted him . He called Rick Barnes , who still has a soft spot for his time in Provi-
54 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JANUARY 2024