Providence will faceoff with Kentucky on a neutral court again during the 2017-18 season a source told pcbb1917.com. The Friars and Wildcats will travel down to Atlantis in the Bahamas to play in the Atlantis Showcase just after Thanksgiving. Providence and Kentucky previously played a neutral court/home court series with the first game played at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the return game being played at Rupp Arena in Kentucky. It isn’t clear if there will be a return game to Lexington after this game in Atlantis but it’s worth noting Kentucky did have that arrangement with Arizona State. The Wildcats and Sun Devils played at Rupp Arena in the 2015-16 season and then traveled to Atlantis in November of the 2016-17 season to complete the two-game series.
Providence figures to have a very solid team next season with all key pieces expected to return. The Friars lost Ryan Fazekas and Ricky Council II to transfer but will add big men Dajour Dickens and Nate Watson and recently committed point guard Makai Ashton-Langford. Providence currently has the 14th best incoming recruiting class, according to 247Sports. Kentucky’s tops that list. Rodney Bullock did declare for the NBA Draft but didn’t hire an agent and all signs point to the redshirt junior returning to the Friars next season.
Last season Kentucky went to the Elite 8 and finished the year with the 2nd in the RPI, 7th in overall strength of schedule and 1st in non-conference strength of schedule. John Calipari will have another fresh set of top flight recruits on his roster after losing 6 players off the 2016-17 team.
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