Letting a young, blue-chip prospect take the offensive wheel proved to be a failed experiment, so Cooley turned to the transfer wire in search of a proper point guard replacement for 2020. While it’s entirely possible that Duke, a former top-50 recruit himself, takes command of the lead guard spot this season, the path has been paved for UMass transfer Luwane Pipkins to seize the reins.

‘Electric’ is the first word that comes to mind when I think of Pipkins after watching him torment slower, less athletic guards numerous times in the A-10. The frenetic pace in which he played at UMass was partially system-driven, but he’s internally wired to play in the fast lane. It’ll be interesting to see if the coaching staff places a restrictive ‘speed governor’ on him, given Cooley’s historical preference to play at a methodical pace offensively. Regardless of how that tempo tug-of-war plays out, Pipkins’ is a high-level shot maker and cheetah-quick off the dribble, both of which will come in handy in those aforementioned late shot clock “burn” settings.

Pipkins will also be tasked with serving up the sharpshooting AJ Reeves, one of the lone bright spots of the Friars backcourt last season who missed 9 games in the middle of the season with a foot injury. Before going down, Reeves had emerged as a lightning rod for a Providence offense in dire need of a spark, but he was never able to regain his form after returning to the lineup in late January. With no other reliable sources of offense on the perimeter, it’s no wonder the Friars finished dead last in the Big East in 3PT%, converting an abysmal 29% of their attempts from long distance.

This lack of inside-out balance put the onus on the forwards to carry the offensive torch, as Nate Watson and Alpha Diallo shouldered an interior-intensive scoring attack last year. Diallo and Watson thrive in Cooley’s flex offense, and the patented baseline screening action allows them to catch the ball 6-8 feet from the basket, typically isolated in a favorable matchup. Per Synergy, over 25% of the Friars’ offensive possessions ended with a shot either 1) out of the post, 2) off a screen or 3) off an offensive rebound.

After losing his starting job to Watson last year, Kalif Young is back to provide meaningful minutes off the pine, while a trio of 6’7 wings in Jimmy Nichols, Kris Monroe and freshman Greg Gantt were hand-picked by Cooley and his staff to flourish in the flex offense - though, all three will take a back seat to journeyman Emmitt Holt if he ends up reaching even 75% of his true self. Holt was granted a 6th year of eligibility by the NCAA early this summer, and was arguably the Friars best player during the early portion of the 2016-17 campaign. It’s hard to see Holt returning to that peak form nearly three years after the fact, but his quest for revival is a story I’ll be tracking closely.

Bottom Line: As I alluded to in the intro paragraph above, Ed Cooley’s system is effectively immune to being shook by any major roster turnover. This consistency is apparent in the chart below, which shows the teams with the smallest range in their final kenpom.com ranking from 2013 through 2019: