He’s the best point guard you may have never heard of and if Providence’s Vincent Council is not the one player above all in the Big East whom his team could not do without, he is certainly on the short list. The 6’2” junior is the best and most experienced player on a team with no seniors that is fighting to regain relevance under first-year head coach Ed Cooley after a tumultuous three years under Keno Davis. Coming off back-to-back 4-14 Big East finishes, the Friars have not done much winning in Council’s tenure, but the lack of success as a team thus far has little reflection upon Council’s contribution.

Fitting of his unassuming and determined personality, Council is quietly respected as one of the top guards in the conference. In similar under-the-radar fashion Council (affectionately known as “VC”) was unheralded coming out of the Patterson School (NC) despite playing for one of the nation’s top teams in his senior year. Upon arriving at Providence, Council was forced to grow up quickly in a league that does not take kindly to its young, appearing in all 31 of his team’s games, starting eight, and averaging 27.6 minutes per game. Council’s hard-nosed approach coupled with his speed, lighting-quick first step, and tremendous court vision endeared him to the Friar faithful early on, and he responded to the minutes and cheers with solid play as a freshman (10.3 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 4.6 APG)  earning Big East All-Rookie Team honors.

Then the off-season from Hell hit Smith Hill. Two players, Johnnie Lacy and James Still, were expelled from school after brutally beating another student in a random act of violence. This was followed by the release of Jamine “Greedy” Peterson, who was to be Providence’s leading returning scorer and rebounder, for his participation in undisclosed incidents related to an on-campus party over that summer.

Council is Providence's Floor General

Despite the off-season turmoil, the Friars welcomed in a top 50 recruit in shooting guard Gerard Coleman and hoped to build momentum on the court and in Big East recruiting battles.  However, the program continued to crumble behind the scenes and even with the arrival of the slashing scorer Coleman, Providence became a two-headed monster in 2010-2011 with Marshon Brooks and Vincent Council. While this resulted in an historic season for Brooks individually, and Council’s numbers increased across the board (13.7 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 5.9 APG), he did not display his full array of skills.  That said, Council was an iron man, starting all thirty-two games and averaging 36.2 minutes per contest but Providence, although they continued to score at a high rate, became a stagnant team offensively as Keno Davis forced the action through Brooks and Council almost exclusively in his high-octane shoot-first, think about the shot later offense. The numbers bear this out as the Brooks/Council duo accounted for eye popping percentages of the team’s totals for the year in various offensive categories: points – 50.5%, shots – 47.9%, 3-point attempts – 49.9%, free throw attempts – 49.3%.  This uneven distribution caused others on the team to become disengaged, making an already poor and unfocused defensive group even worse as the Friars gave up an astounding 75.3 points per game. The lack of wins, defense and overall control of the program ultimately led to the dismissal of Davis and the hiring of Cooley.

The rebuilding effort at Providence begins with Vincent Council, and Cooley is asking him take on a leadership role he previously had not assumed. This Providence team is more likely to be measured by how it carries itself, and the effort it displays than it will be by the win total, which is not expected to be very high. If Providence is to regain respectability, Council can no longer play second fiddle  to the likes of Brooks, Peterson, and Sharaud Curry as he has in the past. He is now the face of the team from a player standpoint and will have to help Cooley develop a young and razor-thin group that is currently taking to the floor with just eight scholarship players. With that Council, now part of a team that currently has few offensive options, must also produce as the primary focus of opposing game plans.

The early returns for Council and his Friars are predictably mixed and remain a work in progress. Providence, despite struggling at times to get there, won its first four games, including a nice road victory over Fairfield, Ed Cooley’s former team, which represented Providence’s first true road win in almost two years. However, a Thanksgiving trip to Texas and the South Padre Island Invitational did not prove bountiful as the Friars were outplayed in losses to Iowa State and Northern Iowa, despite great performances from Council (23.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2 APG).

Predictably, Council’s scoring is up this year (17.8 PPG), his floor game has been solid (3.5 RPG, 4.8 APG) but while his shooting percentage is currently above his career pace at 41.2%, Council has struggled some with his shot, particularly from three-point land (23.5%) no doubt a result of the increased defensive attention. Sorely needed help could be on the way as two current Friars originally expected to play significant roles this season have yet to play. 6’9” red shirt sophomore Kadeem Batts, the team’s most capable big man, is serving an indefinite suspension for an unspecified violation of team rules, and 5’7” freshman point guard Kiwi Gardner has a high school academic issue under appeal with the NCAA. They may also have 6’10” transfer Daquan Brown available to play in the second semester.

While it is certain Council would welcome the assistance, he will not use being short-handed, or anything else for that matter, as a crutch or excuse. In his still brief college career Council has seen it all and it has not fazed him. He will continue to wear the same focused look, play virtually every minute of every game as if it were his last and put the Providence Friars on his back. All in a day’s work for Vincent Council.

Patrick Prendergast (74 Posts)

Twitter: @FriarFrenzy

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 29th, 2011 at 9:12 am by Patrick Prendergast and is filed under big east, microsites. Tagged: ed cooley, providence, Vincent Council. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.