Head Coach: Archie Miller (21-42); 3rd season
Theme song: Somebody Save Me by Eminem (feat. Jelly Roll)
Last Season: Rhode Island basketball has experienced quite a bit under Archie Miller’s leadership in the previous few years. His tenure got off to a very rocky start, even with a solid haul of transfers before his first season. That year was stained by an early dismissal of Brayon Freeman, an unlucky injury to Josephat Bilau, and a severe lack of chemistry that completely derailed any potential momentum the Rams could’ve generated.
His second season required grave roster turnover if he would get anything going. For the most part, once again, besides Bilau, everyone remained healthy while being able to produce at an A10 level. Even when David Green was cleared to play, the numbers did not translate to wins for Rhode Island—offensively, they took a significant step upward but were Swiss cheese on defense, resulting in a 12-20 overall record.
The numbers did not translate to wins this season, even with tremendous individual efforts. As you surf the depths of the internet, folks were serving up their take on why Archie Miller’s tenure has been so wildly underwhelming: do the players not fit? Are they simply not good enough to impact winning at this level? Is Archie himself causing a divide?
Residents in Kingston are not used to such mishaps on the floor. Rhode Island is usually a strong team in most seasons. They haven’t seen single-digit winning years since Dan Hurley’s first year—over a decade ago. Even David Cox, who had his struggles, never amassed single-digit winning seasons.
Since his time in Indiana ended sourly, Miller has had issues in Rhode Island. By record, Miller has posted his two worst seasons ever as a head coach. He’s never won less than 12 games before his first year in Kingston, nor has he ever lost 20 games until last season. If the third season doesn’t go according to plan, it’s safe to say year three of Archie will result in his dismissal from the university.
Arrivals: Sebastian Thomas (Albany), Quentin Diboundje (East Carolina), Drissa Traore (St. John’s), Javonte Brown (Western Michigan), Jamarques Lawrence (Nebraska), Tyronne Ferral (F)
Departures: Zek Montgomery (T), Luis Kortright (T), Connor Dubsky (T), Rory Stewart (T), Jeremy Foumena (T), Tyson Brown (T), Brandon Weston (T)
Returnees: Cam Estevez, Always Right, Jaden House, David Green, David Fuchs, Josephat Bilau
Potential Strengths: Archie…
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