Spring is often associated with change, new beginnings and brighter days. For the University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team, change has certainly taken place after the conclusion of its 2024-25 season.
The Rams have lost nine players from last year’s roster, either to graduation or the transfer portal. Eight of those nine players contributed 15 minutes or more per game last season, with the lone exception being third-year Always Wright, who redshirted due to a shoulder injury suffered in the preseason. The only player currently on the team who played any significant minutes for the Rams is fourth-year Drissa Traore, who averaged 12.5 MPG.
On March 14, two days after the Rams’ loss in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament, first-year Tyonne Farrell and second-year Cam Estevez posted on social media their intent to enter the transfer portal when it opened on March 24.
In the next few days following the opening of the portal, Wright, second-year David Fuchs and third-year Jamarques Lawrence also entered the transfer portal. In less than three weeks, URI went from losing in the first round of the A-10 Tournament to only having six players on scholarship on the roster.
The end of the season was less than ideal, and to compound that with the loss of over two-thirds of the roster, fans were looking for some kind of hope to hold onto heading into the offseason. They were searching for any reason to keep believing in this team and feel like this upcoming season will be different from all the others. They turned to URI Head Coach Archie Miller and URI Athletic Director Thorr Bjorn for that reason and hope.
Those fans were met with radio silence. There was no statement. No press conference. Not even a tweet from either one.
In comparison, Providence College Athletic Director Steven Napolillo released a post on X, (formerly Twitter) immediately following the Friars’ loss in the Big East Conference Tournament. Napolillo even responded to one of the replies, which seems foreign in today’s day and age.
“Thank you,” Napolillo said. “This is home. To all the angry responses, we deserve it. We are going to work 24/7 to make sure we never feel like this again.”
The first time any Rhody fans heard any updates or news that wasn’t about players leaving was on April 8, when former St. Bonaventure University fourth-year guard Jonah Hinton announced he was transferring to URI. Two more transfers, fifth-year guard from Charleston Southern University, RJ Johnson and third-year forward from Northern Kentucky University, Keeyan Itejere, committed just days later.
The roster for next season currently sits at nine players, with Rhody being able to offer six more scholarships. The transfer portal officially closes on Tuesday, but that deadline is just for players being able to enter the portal and not for players to commit.
For 475 words, I just explained all the facts and backstory behind how the men’s basketball program handled a crucial offseason thus far following another disappointing season, but this is an opinion article, so here’s my opinion on how the team has handled this offseason and how they should move forward.
It feels, and is, absolutely unacceptable that for 27 days, the students and fans were met with absolute silence following a season in which the team beat PC for the first time since 2019 and went 11-1 to start the season. It was heartbreaking to see this team struggle on the road and eventually lose in the first round of the A-10 Tournament for the third straight season. That first-round loss also came to a team that they had beaten by 19 points just 72 hours prior.
I understand that coaches and athletic directors are not required by any means to release a statement or talk about their thoughts on the previous season unless they are asked about it. However, for your rival to not only release a statement immediately following the end of their season but also respond to fans’ concerns just makes that silence look 10 times worse than it already did.
For now, it’s just playing the waiting game. The team will eventually sign more transfers to fill out the roster, and they’ll release the hype videos to get our hopes up again as we wait for the calendar to reach November. But it’s the offseason, and both the players and fans deserve a break, so sit back, relax and turn off those notifications. Go Rhody!
