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RALEIGH, N.C. — Kris Dunn’s career at Providence has come to a close.
The Friars’ season ended late Saturday night with an 85-66 loss to No. 1 North Carolina in a second-round East Region game here. A projected NBA lottery pick, Dunn scored 29 points in 26 minutes in the loss, despite being in foul trouble for a majority of the first half.
Ben Bentil, a sophomore forward who may also test the NBA Draft waters, added 21 points.
“I’m not excited, I’m not sad,” Dunn, a two-time Big East Player of the Year, told SNY.tv after the loss. “I’m just going with the flow really. I wish we could have gone farther, but I appreciate these guys, I appreciate the coaches and what they’ve done for me. The journey has been amazing, and I can’t wait for the next journey that is coming along.”
Having coached Dunn, a 22-year-old redshirt junior, for a full four years, Friars head coach Ed Cooley says that he will miss having the point guard on the roster, for multiple reasons.
“Tough to walk away from this,” Cooley said. “Tough to see a man that has grown up in front of my eyes in Kris, to see what he’s meant to our organization, to see where he was, so see where he’s at, to see where he’s going, you’re like a dad. I can’t tell you how much I love this kid and this team. I’m going to really miss him.”
Cooley said after the Southern California game that Providence College basketball wouldn’t be what it is today without Dunn.
“I’m sitting on this podium because of Kris Dunn,” Cooley said. “We make no bones about it. He’s the face of this program for the last two years. I’m proud of Kris because he’s going to be graduating in seven or eight weeks. For him to come back to school and get us to this point, that is credit to the legacy that he has left.”
Dunn was asked about his relationship with Cooley, as well as how he has helped him to mature as a player and a person.
“Definitely going to be emotional,” Dunn said. “He’s been recruiting me since I was a skinny guy, with my two [shoulder] surgeries. Our backgrounds, and the relationship we’ve built over the years, I appreciate everything he has done for me. He’s allowed me to be the confident player that I am, as well as the person I am off the court. I’m just going to take it to the next level.”
Tar Heel head coach Roy Williams pulled Dunn aside after the Heels win and had relatively lengthy chat with the point guard. When Williams was asked about what he said to Dunn, he said that he had praise and a bit of advice for the redshirt junior.
“I’m sure every coach would say the same thing,” Williams said. “I just told him that he’s had a great, great career. I’ve enjoyed watching him play, I’ve watched a lot of their games because I like Ed so much. He’s been an unbelievable performer, and I told him to not let this one game dictate how you feel about what you’ve accomplished.”
As for the next step for Dunn, he says that he will be focused on graduating, before heading off to the next level. He is projected to go No. 5 in the 2016 NBA Draft by Draft Express.
“He is a Top 5 guy,” one NBA executive told SNY.tv. “A Tyreke Evans-type.”
“I’m going to spend time with family, spend time with these guys,” Dunn said. “I’m finishing up school, and getting my degree. That was the main reason I came back, to spend time with family, and friends, and finish out school.”
Bentil, meantime, is projected as a second-round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com, while ESPN’s Chad Ford Tweeted that Bentil might go in the 20-35 range this year.
When asked for some parting words, they came easily for Dunn.
“It means a lot,” Dunn said. “This journey has been unbelievable, and I appreciate everyone who has helped me get here.”
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