Appearing in March Madness for the first time in four years, Providence took care of business Thursday with an opening-round win over 13-seed South Dakota State, handing the Jackrabbits their first loss in 21 games. The Friars' opponent in the Round of 32 will be Iowa or Richmond with the winner of Saturday’s game determining who advances to the Sweet 16 in Chicago next weekend.
Former Mets GM Omar Minaya made the trip up to Buffalo for Thursday’s game, watching his son Justin contribute nine points on 3-of-8 shooting (1-of-5 from beyond the arc) in the winning effort. A 6’7” forward currently working toward his graduate degree in leadership development, Minaya also pulled in two boards with three assists in 33 minutes of action. Minaya, who completed his undergraduate studies at South Carolina, was granted a fifth year of eligibility due to the COVID pandemic.
Minaya served eight seasons as the Mets' general manager (2004-11) before joining the Padres’ front office as their senior vice president of baseball operations, a position he held for four years. He returned to the Mets as a special assistant to GM Sandy Alderson, later replacing Alderson on an interim basis after his cancer diagnosis in 2018. Minaya, who now serves as an amateur scouting consultant to MLB, was dismissed by the Mets shortly after Steve Cohen acquired the team in 2020.
Omar and his wife Rachel have been a fixture at Providence games, including last weekend’s Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. Justin, who turns 23 later this month, has averaged 6.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in his 30 games (22 starts) this season.
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