Kim English may be better served spending his time before the Big East Tournament polishing his resume than working on X’s and O’s.
The embattled Providence coach learned one week ago that he will not be returning as the team’s coach for the 2026-27 season, according to Adam Zagoria.
Providence athletic director Steve Napolillo did not give English a vote of confidence when asked about the report Wednesday night.
“Kim is the coach and as with all our coaches, I will evaluate at the end of the season,” he told Kevin McNamara. “We have one game left and the Big East Tournament.”
Whether Napolillo has made up his mind already or needs one second after the season concludes, it seems a mere formality that English’s tenure at the Rhode Island school is over after three seasons.
Barring a miraculous run in the Big East Tournament, English will have failed to made the NCAA Tournament in any of his three seasons after replacing Ed Cooley.
Providence is 47-53 in his tenure and 16-36 over the last two seasons, going 6-14 in the Big East last year and sitting at 7-12 this season after an embarrassing 78-56 loss Wednesday to Marquette.
The knock on English over the past few years has been that Providence has the talent to be a top-tier Big East team, but coaching has held them back.
This year’s team has battled both St. John’s and UConn tough in all four encounters, even beating the Red Storm at MSG, but then there were the mind-boggling losses like the no-show vs. Marquette.
“More importantly, how you come out so flat with so much at stake is where my mind is right now,” English said while referencing something that is usually held against coaches.
His team’s actions during former star Bryce Hopkins return last month did not help, with St. John’s and Providence engaging in a brawl that resulted in a three-game suspension for the Friars’ Duncan Powell.
Providence fans also made it quite known that they are not fans of English, and it’s not easy to bring back a coach that the fan base has turned its back on.
English came to Providence after a two-year run with George Mason in which he posted a 34-29 record.
Ironically, English’s final regular-season game as the Friars’ head coach is slated to come against Cooley and Georgetown on Saturday before the Big East Tournament begins Wednesday.
Providence is slated to be the No. 7 seed.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
