Providence has hired South Florida’s Bryan Hodgson as its next men’s basketball coach.
Providence athletic director Steve Napolillo announced the hiring Sunday, calling Hodgson “a winner” who will bring “a winning culture” to the program.
“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,” Napolillo said in a statement. “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.”
Hodgson joined the Friars after leading the Bulls to a 25-9 record, a bid to the NCAA tournament and the American Conference regular-season and postseason titles in his lone season at USF.
The 11th-seeded Bulls lost to No. 6 seed Louisville on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Hodgson is a former Nate Oats assistant coach at Buffalo and Alabama who brings an up-tempo style of play predicated on high-efficiency shot selection.
Hodgson, 38, will replace Kim English, who went 82-81 in three years at Providence, including back-to-back losing seasons in 2024-25 and 2025-26.
“I’m incredibly honored and excited to be named the next head coach of the Providence Friars men’s basketball program,” Hodgson said in a statement. “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.”
Providence will be the third school in three years for Hodgson, who spent two seasons at Arkansas State prior to South Florida. He led Arkansas State to a pair of 20-win seasons, including a 25-11 Sun Belt regular-season title in 2024-25, which gave the Red Wolves their first NIT trip in more than three decades.
Hodgson now inherits a program considered well-funded in the Big East and one that is looking to get back to winning consistently after Ed Cooley left for Georgetown in 2023. English had one 20-win season after Cooley’s departure, but Providence has gone 13-27 in Big East play over the past two seasons.
As an assistant at Alabama, Hodgson helped establish the Crimson Tide as one of the country’s top recruiting programs. Alabama delivered consistent top-15 recruiting classes and reached the Sweet 16 twice during his time there. The Tide also won the SEC and SEC conference tournament twice.
As an assistant coach at Buffalo, he helped Oats capture three NCAA tournament bids, a national ranking and two regular-season MAC titles.
