Gomes is no stranger for Red and Blue

Providence forward Ryan Gomes has taken a lot of people by surprise.

The senior's success on the hardwood dates back to high school, but he did not receive the national accolades that many teenagers get as they move on to top Division I basketball programs.

Now the Waterbury, Conn., native is a serious candidate for 2005 NCAA Player of the Year, and he is squaring off against the Quakers tonight in Rhode Island.

Penn is one of the schools that competed against a young Gomes but did not expect he would reach his current level of talent.

During the 2002-03 season, the Red and Blue lost to the Friars at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in overtime, 74-71. Gomes was a sophomore then, and the current elder statesmen on the Quakers got quite an eyeful of him that night -- Gomes finished the game with 16 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in 43 minutes of play.

"He's a guy that we knew little about when we played them, and now he's one of the best players in the country hands down," Penn senior guard Tim Begley said. "They have changed as a program over the past few years."

While these numbers are certainly impressive, they are not what you would expect from a player who is supposedly one of the best in the nation when he faces a non-scholarship mid-major school like Penn.

One glaring weakness was his eight turnovers in that game, a sign that he had yet to fully mature as a player.

It was these turnovers that enabled Penn to come back from a 13-point deficit at halftime.

The Quakers will see a different Gomes on the court tonight. He finished his sophomore year strongly, leading his team in points and rebounding as well as setting school records for sophomore points and free-throw percentage in a season. He also had 17 double-doubles that year.

The secret was out by Gomes' junior year, as he was named one of the top 50 candidates for the John R. Wooden Award before the season began. The new honors did not seem to phase Gomes, as he led his team in points, rebounds and steals en route to Providence's No. 12 Associated Press ranking -- the Friars' highest since 1978 -- and an NCAA Tournament berth.

Gomes, who was named a first-team All-American by The Sporting News, AP and ESPN after the season ended, took Providence basketball to new heights. But he almost chose to forego his final year in Rhode Island to get an early start in professional basketball.

Gomes made himself eligible for the NBA Draft in the offseason, but after working out with NBA squads like the Boston Celtics and Utah Jazz, he decided to return for his senior season at Providence.

"This has been an educational process for me," Gomes said in a statement in June on his draft workout experience. "I have improved my game and learned what I need to do to become a more complete player."

If that is true, then opposing teams must beware -- Gomes' stock will undoubtedly rise even more as the season progresses.

His 25 points, 19 rebounds and game-winning shot on Tuesday against Niagara, one of the top mid-major programs in the country, certainly indicates this improvement.

As he did last year, Gomes will have the supporting cast he needs to make a run at the Big East title.

"We really have to tighten things up," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said of the Friars. "We all know how good they are."

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