Providence-URI basketball rivalry
Here’s the thing about the Providence-URI basketball rivalry
The University of Rhode Island’s basketball teams weren’t rewarded for their improved play last year.
The men this year were selected to finish 11th in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll — the same slot they were picked last season. And the women, despite a run to the A-10 championship, were picked eighth, the conference announced on Monday morning.
The men, who finished with a 9-22 overall record and 5-13 in conference play in 2022-23, upped their play last season to 12-20 overall and 6-12. It’s just a three-game difference overall but still an improvement for head coach Archie Miller, who enters his third season with the Rams.
The women, led by sixth-year coach, Tammi Reiss, earned the sixth seed in last year’s conference tournament, then topped Dayton, No. 3 Saint Joseph’s and Saint Louis before falling to top-seeded Richmond, 65-51. But the Rams’ leading scorer and rebounder, Mayé Touré, is among this year’s departures after she transferred to the University of Utah for her graduate year.
“We have some high aspirations and goals with this group,” Miller said at Monday’s A-10 press conference. “We had the opportunity, I think, for the first time to have a blend of what I would call returning guys and adding key pieces to the puzzle here in the spring. I think in our previous two years this really hasn’t been the case.”
Said Reiss: “When you have so many new faces, you put it together, watching them grow every day. It’s much different than last year’s team, where we had so many returners, and it’s just a different environment. It’s highly competitive because people are fighting for starting spots and minutes.”
Men eyeing defensive intensity
An identity shift might be coming to Kingston this season.
Last winter the men allowed the third-most points per game in the conference (76.3) and were tied for last in opponent 3-point shooting (36%). Teams overall shot 43% against the Rams for second-to-last behind Saint Louis.
Miller’s group won’t let that fly this season.
“Defense is a non-negotiable,” Miller said. “I felt like for the first time in my tenure as a head coach in general, that side of the ball really was a disaster. And you can put it on me, all the way to the staff, to not being able to execute on that end and make that end as important as it needed to be.”
2024-25 schedule: Rhode Island men’s basketball schedule released. Here’s who the Rams will face and when
Jaden House returns to Rhode Island as a conference preseason third-team selection after averaging 14.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-4 guard was the only Ram to start every game last winter and finished 13th in the conference in scoring.
“Trying to get [defense] back in check, so that we can call that … our calling card,” Miller said. “Regardless of what’s going on or where you’re playing, you’re going to have that at your disposal. And your effort level and your toughness level and your discipline.”
“That’s something that I want to take personally this year, and I feel like it’ll help us win more games and win the championship,” senior forward, David Green said.
New cast leading women’s team
Along with the departure of Touré, the Rams also lost half of the coaching staff. Associate head coach Megan Shoniker left for New Hampshire this year and assistant coach Takima Keane wasn’t retained.
Ali Jaques, the former Siena head coach, was hired to fill Shoniker’s position.
The women have just two seniors on the roster and both are expected to make major contributions. Sophie Phillips returns to captain the group after setting the single-season program record with 83 3-pointers. The guard averaged 10.6 points per game over 35 starts.
The Rams pulled in Harsimran Kaur, a senior transfer from San Diego, to help replace Touré’s production. The 6-foot-4 center played in 31 games last season with one start.
“Really pleased with this piece, this is a cornerstone,” Reiss said of Kaur. “Obviously our centers have always been great for us in the league, and [Kaur] is going to roll right in and fit in well with us from a scoring standpoint and a rebounding standpoint. The thing I’m most impressed with is her is her ability to shoot the 3. It’s something we’ve really never had at that position.”
Season schedule: Rhode Island women’s basketball faces tough tests in league play. Here’s the schedule
The Rams (21-14) reached 20 wins for the third consecutive season last year. They’ll attempt to continue the streak, but with a new cast in Kingston.
“At every position now we’re competing for minutes and it’s made our practices extremely competitive,” Reiss said. “It’s made my job as a coach very easy and the thing that this team has, what I think we were lacking last year, was that competitive fire.”
jrousseau@providencejournal.com
On X: @ByJacobRousseau
