God's Last Night in Rhode Island

Of the hundreds of teams to ever compete in the NCAA tournament there’s only a handful that the mere mention of them makes me stop dead in my tracks and reflect about them for the next 6 hours. The 1990 UCONN Huskies are one. The Loyola Marymount team from the same year WITH Bo Kimble but without Hank Gathers is another. As a hardened gambler in 2003, that year’s Kentucky squad is a third that holds a very special place in my wallet, I mean heart. But the one team that stands out far above the rest hailed from the great state of Rhode Island, and represented the school where I was enrolled as an academically (and socially) underachieving junior. The year was 1997, and the team was the Providence Friars.

When the season began in the fall of 1996, there were high hopes for the Friars. Even though our prior two campaigns had both ended in bubble-bursting snubs by the Selection Committee, our entire starting five was returning, and a preseason ranking of #17 was assigned by the Associated Press.

The Friars were coached by Brooklyn native, Pete Gillen, who was in his 3rd year after coming over from Xavier. Affectionately known as “Pumpkin Head”, Gillen’s dry sense of humor played perfectly in Providence and throughout his 4 year tenure, he was always extremely popular on campus.

The players consisted mainly of New York City kids, most of them recruited by Gillen assistant and current Manhattan coach Bobby Gonzalez.

Most people remember our point guard, Bronx native, God Shammgod. Shammgod’s ball-handling skills and ability to distribute the rock made him one of the best pure point guards in the country, but God’s fatal flaw was his jump shot, or lack thereof. It was clearly the one thing he needed in order to become a complete player.

At 2-guard was senior Derrick Brown, a.k.a. “D-Flight”. Flight, another NYC kid - “representin’ Providence but raised down in Brooklyn”, was a great 2-way player, and undeniably the heart and soul of the team.

Our small forward was sophomore Jamel Thomas, another Brooklyn kid, who was the half-brother of highly touted NYC point guard Sebastian Telfair, and 2nd cousin to Stephon Marbury. Jamel had a nickname too - “5:30”, which was the time his mother had demanded he return home after school. (I’m assuming P.M.)

At center was a 6’9’’ Panamanian man with arms the size of oak trees named Reuben Garces. Reuben was known for always giving the “Tatonka” sign from Dances with Wolves after each dunk or blocked shot. I always thought he was a big Kevin Costner fan but it turned out that the “inverted hands atop the head” was just a basic fraternity sign. Who knew.

The star of the team was senior, All Big East forward, Austin Croshere. Croshere was the lone California dude on the team, who hailed from the beaches of Los Angeles. Croshere was originally recruited by UCONN, but fortunately for us, landed in Providence after Jim Calhoun imprudently gave away the scholarship. (He f’d up again. There, I said it. He f’d up again.)

The ‘97 regular season was again one of underachievement for the 18-10 Friars. For the 3rd year in a row, we were faced with an agonizing Selection Sunday but thankfully were awarded a 10-seed in the Southeast region down in Greensboro, North Carolina.

After blowing out the 7 seeded Marquette by 30 in the opening round Friday night, it was on to face #2 seed Duke, who of course, had the distinct luxury of playing the game in their own backyard. (Nice to be Duke, isn’t it?) If you don’t remember that team, they were typical Duke pansies, most, if not all, coming from privileged, upper-class backgrounds. Jeff Capel, Rashod McLeod, Trajan Langdon, and Captain Duke himself, Steve “Wojo” Wojocowski. They were almost TOO easy to hate.

After trailing by 9 at the break, the Friars began taking it to the Blue Devils in the 2nd half, working the ball inside and draining the outside shots. Slowly but surely, the Friars were gaining control of the game. Now up 12 around the 2 minute mark, the nail in the coffin had arrived. After Shammgod slammed his hands on the floor, blatantly mocking Wojo and the Dukies, he picked Wojo’s pocket, dribbled down court and jammed it home. The dunk sent the Friar bench and entire PC campus into a complete frenzy. It was jubilation time in Providence! Final score – Friars 98, Duke 87.

That week PC was anointed as the Cinderella team of the tournament, and Pete Gillen became a media star overnight. After the Duke game when Gillen was asked how he motivated his supposedly less-talented team, he responded, “I told them that their guys are McDonald’s All-Americans and we eat at McDonald’s.” A few days later on WFAN, Gillen went on to say that his guys “steal shampoo from hotel rooms”. The guy was classic.

The Sweet 16 had arrived that Friday night and the Friars took care of business against a game Tennessee-Chattanooga club to advance to the Elite 8 for the first time in 10 years. On Sunday afternoon, Miles Simon, Mike Bibby and the Arizona Wildcats, who had earlier knocked off #1 seed Kansas, would be the only thing in the way between PC and the Final Four.

The next morning my buddies and I boarded a chartered flight, bound not for Birmingham to see the game, but for Spring Break in Cancun. (Arriba!) Before we left though, the PC students headed down had agreed to meet up at the All-Star Cafe to watch the game. And as planned, Sunday at 3 p.m. Mexico time we assumed our positions at the bar.

As expected the favored Wildcats jumped out to the early lead, but PC hung around despite horrendous shooting and even worse officiating. We had THREE technical fouls called against us and then with 15 minutes left, Croshere fouled out on a questionable call. Things began to slip away, and it appeared like our run was over. The few Arizona fans in attendance started celebrating as we could only sit there at the bar drinking Corona after Corona. Down 8 with less than a minute to play, things were not looking good.

However, what we didn’t recognize at the time was that this Friar team wasn’t going down as easily as the watered down beers we were drinking.

After a Jamel Thomas 3 cut the lead to 5, Arizona missed the front end of a 1-1. PC grabbed the rebound, drove down court, and after several missed put-back attempts, Garces laid it in to cut the Zona lead to 3. Still life! With 30 seconds left, Simon broke the PC press, dribbled toward our basket and inexplicably pulled up for a 8-foot jump shot that was blocked by Garces. Rebound Providence!

The All Star Cafe, including the local Mexicanos who were now rooting for the underdog Friars, erupted! The restaurant had turned into the Providence Civic Center as fans began screaming, some standing on tables and chairs to watch the dramatic conclusion. (Yes, sombreros were kindly removed.)

Down 3 with the ball and 20 on the clock, the final seconds of this game were the most exhilarating I’ve ever seen in sports. Shammgod took the pass and dribbled determinedly down court. Unfortunately we were out of timeouts so God would to have to “create” on the fly. He continued with the ball straight through the Arizona defense, passed to Corey Wright who spotted Jamel Thomas WIDE open in the corner! “Shamgod dribbles, passes to Wright, kicks it out to Thomas - FOR THREE AND THE TIE………GOT IT!!!! AHHH!!!” I completely lost control of all bodily functions. Tables, chairs and human beings both American and Mexican were strewn all over the floor. It was like a Dudley Boyz match. But we couldn’t catch our breath! Instead of calling timeout, Zona hastily inbounded the ball with 10 seconds left, it was deflected by a Friar, and then picked up by Shammgod!

“God steals the ball! God steals the ball! No timeouts! 9 seconds, 8, 7, 6, Shammgod pulls up from 12 feet, for the game!………..NO GOOD! Out of bounds…..off Arizona!”

Wildcats call timeout. 3.9 sec left. Tie game. It was PC ball under the basket and we’d have one final shot to advance to Indianapolis. We could taste the Final Four. Or was that the guacamole? Regardless, for whatever reason I still have no idea to this day, Gillen had the ball inbounded to Corey Wright, our backup point guard and absolute worst shooter on the floor. No! NO!! With no one to pass to, Wright pulled up from 3-point range and his infamous shot missed off the side of the rim as time expired in regulation.

To tell the truth I couldn’t tell you one play of OT. Even when it’s shown on ESPN Classic, I still can’t watch it. We were exhausted, playing undermanned throughout the 2nd half and ultimately lost, 96-92. Our season was over. Arizona went on to win the National Championship 8 days later and 8 YEARS later no Friar team has even reached the round of 32.

What’s happened to the players and coaches since that game has not been particularly memorable. Garces and D-Flight faded away after playing in the CBA, and although Jamel Thomas had a brief 12 game stint in the NBA, I haven’t heard from him since he scored the last 2 points for the Celtics on the old parquet floor.

God Shammgod became one of the poster boys for why NOT to leave school early. Tempted by the money of a first round pick and a guaranteed appearance on “Cribs”, Shammgod was misled by his agent, left PC after his sophomore year, and slipped all the way to 46th overall where he was drafted by the Wizards. The last I heard, he was playing for the Shanghai Horses in the Chinese league.

Unfortunately, Pete Gillen left PC the following year for what he thought were greener pastures down in Virginia. To put it mildly, his years at UVA have been a disaster as Gillen’s teams have failed to reach the NCAA tournament in 6 of his 7 years. Just last week he was asked to step down.

The only positive was Croshere, who was selected 12th overall by Larry Bird’s Pacers in the ‘97 NBA draft. Austin is currently averaging 9 points and 5 boards a game, and was one of the only Pacer players involved in the “Malice at the Palace” who did not commit a felony.

Even though God’s last night in Rhode Island ended with as brutal a loss as you can imagine, the experience we had that March is all everyone at a small D1 school could ever hope for. You’d be surprised how many NON-PC grads remember the ’97 Friars. In my opinion, they were not only the best 10-seed in tournament history, but one of the toughest group of kids I’ve ever seen compete. True, nobody knows what would’ve happened if either of those shots had fallen, but I think I speak for Friar fans everywhere when I say that we would’ve damn sure liked to find out.