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While the Big East’s run in the NCAA Tournament ended on Saturday, Sunday has delivered some more positive news.
The Providence Friars have picked up a quality player on the transfer market. Luwane Pipkins of the UMass Minutemen has elected to transfer to the Friars. Pipkins, a three-year player at UMass, announced his intentions to transfer to Providence College on Twitter.
I just want to say thanks to all the coaches that contacted me during this time, but after careful consideration I have decided to use my last year of eligibility to play for coach Ed Cooley and the Providence friars. #friartown
— ✨ (@lpip_chefteam) March 24, 2019
Pipkins had a solid career at UMass over the last three seasons. He averaged 15.7 points per game in his career there, along with 3.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds. In the 2017-18 season, Pipkins averaged a career-best 21.2 points and shot a career-best 43 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from deep. He saw some declines this past year, but still put up 16 points, 5.2 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game.
This move makes a lot of sense for both parties, and especially Providence. Point guard issues plagued them a bit this past season, as they couldn’t seem to get it right with the pieces in place. Now, they’ll have an experienced point guard in Pipkins, who’s proven he can produce in the points and assists categories at the D1 level, aboard for the 2019-20 season. We will see how this shakes out, but this is certainly a quality get for Ed Cooley and the Friars heading into next year.