Justin Minaya
In September of 2021, Ed Cooley wanted to have a meeting with his veteran players. We were coming off a below average year at Providence College (the covid year, played in front of no fans) and we had lost our best player, David Duke, to the NBA. We were fortunate that the NCAA granted everyone an extra year due to the pandemic, so Nate Watson and Noah Horchler came back for one more year. They would be our starting front court. We had Jared Bynum, Ed Croswell, and AJ Reeves returning, and we added two graduate transfers out of the portal, Al Durham from Indiana and Justin Minaya from South Carolina. We had seven players in their 4th, 5th, or 6th year of playing college basketball.
Needless to say, all of them expected to be impact players and play a big role. We talked about it a lot that summer, how everyone was going to have to sacrifice. Not everyone could start. Coach Cooley wanted to address that with the veterans, all of whom we expected to play a big role. He brought all seven of them in for a meeting in September to talk about the situation, and to make sure they all understood that no matter who started, everyone was going to play significant minutes. But no one was going to play as much as they'd like.
After Coach spoke to the players, Justin Minaya was the first to respond. "Bring me off the bench coach. I just want to win."
We ended up having a terrific year, winning the Big East regular season title for the first time in school history and advancing to the Sweet 16. The new guys fit in seamlessly with our returning players. We. were tough and connected, as you would hope with one of the most experienced teams in the country. We got off to a great start and never looked back, winning a ton of close games in the process. That team became "Them Dudes" to Friar Nation, and they'll be remembered in Friartown forever. It was a magical ride.
That team seemed to overachieve all year we won a ton of close games. The only way I can describe that team is that everyone was about winning. We had a bunch of veteran players who were over themselves - they had been through a lot as college basketball players, and none of them had really experienced much success. Nate Watson was the only rotational player who had ever played in the NCAA Tournament on that team. They were mature, they were about winning, and they weren't really concerned with who got the credit.
That "Them Dudes" squad was defined by what Justin Minaya said in that September meeting. Statistically we weren't great, and our individual talent didn't scare our opponents on a scouting report. But we kept finding ways to win. And Justin defined that every possession he played. He ended up starting 25 games for us that year because some other guys had injuries, which is ironic since he was the one who volunteered to come off the bench. He ended up being a guy we just needed to have on the floor.
I've always been a numbers guy. I get there are some things that don't show up in the box score, but for the most part you can usually see the level of impact in the statistics. It's a measure of production. But Justin Minaya was different. He averaged 6.5 points and 5.5 rebounds, and I can't imagine another player with those numbers who'll be revered anywhere the way Justin will be in Providence. He was a fan favorite immediately, and he did a ton of stuff that didn't always show up in the box score.
He created a bunch of extra possessions with effort plays. He'd keep plays alive on the offensive glass. He'd deflect a pass in transition to stop a fast break. He'd force the other teams best player into bad shots. And for someone who shot 31% from 3, he hit a ton of huge shots late in close games. All the while he was as good of a teammate as you could ask for. He brought it in practice every single day. His motor never turned off. He never took himself too seriously and always had a positive approach. He was a winner every day who constantly did things that made his team and his teammates better.
Anytime a player you've coached makes it to the NBA, you feel great. They've achieved a lifelong dream. But I was a little more pumped when Justin Minaya got called up by the Trail Blazers for the last two weeks of the season. He's not a kid who anyone saw as a potential NBA player based on his skill set, but the more you are around him, the more you get to coach him, the more you realize he's just got something special. If there was a stat for "Impact on winning that doesn't show up in the box score, Justin Minaya would be an All-American. He helps his team win every day. Justin Minaya, who averaged 6.5 and 5.5 in his last year in college, is an NBA player.
These are qualities that are hard to recognize and even harder to define as a coach. We've all had guys who were just "we're better when he's on the floor" guys. Even though we may not know why. But if we drill it down we should be able to define what makes our team better - what plays impact winning. We see it every day, but I'm not sure we recognize it or understand how to coach it. Justin Minaya - and that team - made me better as a coach, because they made me really analyze different ways we had success. It's our job to win, and to do that we should be able to evaluate and quantify the things that help us win. Every day Justin Minaya helped us win.
A lot of people ask what made that Providence College team so special, and it wasn't just Justin Minaya. It was an approach that put winning above everything else, with a maturity level that made it possible. Al Durham, Noah Horchler, Nate Watson, AJ Reeves - everybody made it happen. But Justin Minaya defined it. His selfless approach to winning, to team basketball and his willingness to sacrifice was contagious. He made winning plays all the time.
It helped make that team great, and it helped make Justin Minaya and NBA player.