Roger Rubin: St. John's Bryce Hopkins prepared for fans' vitriol in Providence return
St. John's forward Bryce Hopkins against Xavier at MSG on Feb. 9, 2026. Credit: AP/Angelina Katsanis
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A game against Providence at Amica Mutual Pavilion is always a tough proposition for the visiting team. Friars fans are passionate, and they also can have a crude streak when they turn their venom on someone from the opposing side.
We saw one version of this in the 2023-24 season when Georgetown played at Amica. The Hoyas’ new coach was Ed Cooley, who’d just left Providence after 12 mostly excellent seasons for a far richer deal. Providence fans chanted curses at him, and school officials felt the fans were angry enough about his “betrayal” that they brought in extra security.
The next version is coming on Saturday when 17th-ranked St. John’s and former Friars star Bryce Hopkins face Providence in a 1 p.m. Big East contest. Hopkins left Kentucky after his freshman year to play for Cooley at Providence and was a first-team all-conference player as a sophomore. A knee injury limited him to a total of 17 games in the next two seasons before he left for the greener pastures of St. John’s.
Hopkins was on the Friars when Cooley made his return, and when asked Thursday if he expects a similar reception, he replied, “It’ll be similar for sure.”
He seemed to smile when he said that, which could be an indicator of just how good the 6-7 forward is feeling about himself and his team.
St. John’s (19-5, 12-1) is on a 10-game winning streak and in a very different place from Jan. 3, when it suffered a late collapse and lost to Providence, 77-71, at the Garden.
Though the last-place Friars (11-14, 4-10) are consistently unsuccessful despite a very talented roster, that defeat was an embarrassment for the Red Storm. Hopkins was booed by Friars fans in attendance every time he touched the ball and turned in a nine-point outing, shooting 3-for-13.
Speaking about that performance, he said, “I didn’t play a good game at all . . . I could have been completely better.” He added that he was “outside my comfort zone.”
Emboldened by his 15-point, 10-rebound performance in that game, Friars freshman Jamier Jones said afterward that even if Hopkins had remained, he’d have won the starting job over him.
That game, Hopkins said, flipped a switch, and it’s hard to argue. In the 10-game winning streak, he has averaged 14.8 points and 6.4 rebounds. He had a pair of offensive rebounds that led to the tying tip-in by Oziyah Sellers and added two huge steals in overtime in Monday’s win over Xavier at the Garden.
It almost seems as if Hopkins is embracing this moment and opportunity to face his former team, his former fans and the venom. He easily could have sidestepped requests for him to talk about playing the Friars. He did not. He’s feeling something with this Red Storm team.
“I don’t think we’re looking at it as much as it’s just like me versus them and me returning to Providence,” Hopkins said. “We’re playing for something much bigger than any personal narratives. We’re playing for a Big East championship.”
“More than anybody else on the team, [Hopkins] just needed a little more time to fit in,” coach Rick Pitino said. “He came out of his shell about three weeks ago, where he felt great about himself, and the more people feel great about themselves, the more extroverted they become. When they’re not playing well and things aren’t going well, they sort of get very introverted and very sullen.”
Pitino added, “I don’t think he could get any worse than [Cooley got], but he witnessed that and he knows what to expect. But he’s playing right now the best basketball he’s played this season.”
A game at Amica is bound to have a bunch of storylines running through it. Pitino was the head coach who created the magic of the 1987 Final Four Friars with Rockville Centre product Billy Donovan. It’s a matchup of original Big East foes with plenty of history. Zuby Ejiofor’s buzzer-beating bucket in the Miracle at Amica was the turning point for an epic 31-win season in 2024-25.
Hopkins’ return adds another layer, and he looks ready for it.
“There’s going to be a chip on my shoulder, that’s probably the only thing I’m going to say about it,” he said. “[I’m] not looking to go in there and prove something and force the issue, because that’s when things don’t go well . . . Whatever is open I’m going to take and just play good basketball. That’s something I pride myself on.
“The decision for me coming here, that was my decision,” he added. “I have to live with that, and it’s part of the whole situation.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
