After one successful year at South Florida, Bryan Hodgson is on the move again. The 38-year-old head coach was announced on Sunday as the new head coach at Providence. Hodgson is 70-37 overall as a head coach at both USF and Arkansas State, and has won 20+ games in each of his three seasons at the helm of a D-I program.
“We are very excited to welcome Bryan Hodgson and his family to Providence College,” AD Steve Napolillo said. “Today we begin a new journey with Providence College men’s basketball. It was my goal to find a head coach who would fit with our great athletic and academic institution. In addition, in this new revenue share/NIL landscape, I knew we needed a coach with the energy, passion and the skills to get us back to competing for championships and playing in the NCAA Tournament. Bryan has revived two Division 1 programs and it is our goal for him to bring new life into Friar men’s basketball. He has 18 years of college basketball coaching experience, including five as an assistant coach at the University of Alabama. Over the last three years, Bryan has successfully used analytics, his recruiting skills and coaching to win 70 games. Bryan is a winner and we need a winning culture at Providence College. We are looking forward to the start of a new era in Friartown as we enter the 100th year of Providence College men’s basketball.”
Hodgson is originally from Western New York and got his start in D-I coaching in 2015 when he joined Nate Oats’ staff at Buffalo as an assistant coach. He followed Oats to Alabama in 2019 where he spent four seasons with the Tide, assisting a very successful run on the court and also taking a lead role in recruiting major talent to Tuscaloosa.
He was hired in 2023 to be the head coach at Arkansas State, winning 20 and 24 games in his two seasons there and earning back-to-back postseason bids, including a NIT in 2025 after claiming a share of the Sun Belt regular season title.
“I’m incredibly honored and excited to be named the next head coach of the Providence Friars men’s basketball program,” Hodgson said. “This is a program with a proud tradition, passionate fan base, and a city that truly embraces its team. We’re going to build something that reflects that pride. We will be tough, disciplined, and relentless in our pursuit of excellence.”
USF hired Hodgson last year to replace interim head coach Ben Fletcher and reinvigorate the program after the shocking and unfortunate passing of previous head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim. His Bulls immediately got back to their winning ways, winning their second American Conference title in the last three years and then winning the league tournament to earn their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2012.
Meanwhile, Providence has been struggling to compete in the Big East over the last three seasons following Ed Cooley’s departure for Georgetown in 2023. The school parted ways with Kim English earlier this month after a three-year tenure without any NCAA Tournament appearances and an overall record of 48-52 (23-37).
credit to Providence Athletics for the image