Redshirt Freshman Bullock Injures Knee

It’s getting to be that time again. The time that makes Friar fans cringe. It’s time for that other shoe to drop. The last few years any hope for the advancement of the basketball program would inexplicably get derailed or at least delayed by some ruling from the NCAA Clearinghouse or an injury to a key player or some off the court issue. Snake bitten is a term that a lot of fans have taken to using on message boards to describe the lack of luck that followed this program around during the offseasons. Just during Ed Cooley’s time at Providence we’ve seen the following:

• Kiwi Gardner declared ineligible by the NCAA Clearinghouse in October 2011
• Then redshirt sophomore Kadeem Batts was suspended for 11 first semester games during the 2011-12 season
• Experienced player Gerard Coleman, a former top 50 recruit, opted to transfer to Gonzaga after playing his sophomore year for Cooley
• McDonald’s All-American recruit Kris Dunn missed the first 9 games of his freshman season due to shoulder surgery on a torn labrum suffered during his high school playoffs
• Ricky Ledo was declared a partial qualifier by the NCAA Clearinghouse  in September 2012 and ultimately went to the NBA Draft without playing a single game in a Providence uniform
• Vincent Council injured his hamstring 5 minutes into the season opener of the 2012-13 season and missed 10 games leaving only 6 scholarship players and forcing Bryce Cotton and Josh Fortune into ball handling roles (H/T TheInfoMan)
• Kris Dunn suffered a new injury to the same shoulder during the team’s exhibition game against Rhode Island College and ultimately only played in 4 games before having another surgery that ended his season
• Brandon Austin and Rodney Bullock were suspended for the entire 2013-14 season after a sexual assault case. Austin, the 47th best player in the 2013 class according to 247sports composite national ranking, ultimately transferred to Oregon and you know the rest of that story
• Josh Fortune announced his puzzling transfer from the program on the Friday before Memorial Day 2014 putting Cooley behind the 8-ball to find a quick replacement (H/T Bob Nunes in the comments section)
• Kevin McNamara of The Providence Journal reported that Rodney Bullock injured his knee in the team’s 3rd official practice of the season and may be lost for an extended period of time

Despite that litany off unlucky breaks and injuries Ed Cooley has managed to increase his win total each season leading to last year when the team primarily used only 6 players all season en route to the school’s first Big East Tournament Championship since 1994 and first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2004. If Bullock is unable to go for an extended period or even the season Providence still has enough depth to absorb that blow but this means getting freshman Ben Bentil cleared for game action now becomes almost critical.

Each year it seems Friar fans look back on the previous season and say “just imagine what Cooley could do with a full roster!” Unfortunately it seems that might have to wait until next year. Unless that shoe…nah, keep the faith Friar fans.

If I missed any gut-punching moments that Friar fans have had to endure during Cooley’s tenure let me know in the comments section.

UPDATE 4:12pm: Multiple sources are confirming that Bullock will be out for the entire 2014-15 season. This is a tough blow for Bullock who will now have 2 consecutive years without game action after sitting out last year due to a suspension. The next domino to fall will now be Ben Bentil’s NCAA Clearinghouse ruling. There is no timetable for a decision but it sounds like the Clearinghouse now has all the necessary documents to review and should hopefully have a decision soon.

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Mike Hopkins

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