Director of Athletics Bob Driscoll promoted to vice president at Providence College

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PROVIDENCE — Father Brian J. Shanley, O.P., president of Providence College (PC), announced February 11 that Robert G. (Bob) Driscoll, Jr., associate vice president for athletics and athletics director, has been promoted to vice president.

“In his 18 seasons as Providence College’s athletics director, Bob Driscoll has reinvigorated and transformed Providence College’s athletics program, and led us to unprecedented success, all while maintaining a very clear focus on student-athlete success and wellbeing in competition as well as in the classroom,” said Rev. Shanley, O.P.

From 2013 to the present, Driscoll has been the architect of one of the most successful eras in the history of PC athletics. During this period, both the PC Men’s Basketball team and the PC Men’s Hockey team made their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. The basketball Friars, under the leadership of head Coach Ed Cooley, enjoyed a run to the BIG EAST Tournament title game in 2018 that included three-consecutive overtime contests - a 72-68 win over No. 4 Creighton, a 75-72 triumph over top-seeded Xavier, and a 76-66 setback to eventual national champion Villanova. Meanwhile, Men’s Hockey posted their fifth consecutive 20-plus win season under Head Coach Nate Leaman, and advanced to their first Hockey East Championship Game since 2001 with a 3-2 overtime win over Northeastern in the semifinals. Providence also advanced to the NCAA East Regional Final by virtue of a 1-0 win over Clarkson in Bridgeport, Conn. The team finished the season ranked seventh in the USCHO poll and ninth in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, marking the sixth-consecutive season that the program has earned a spot in the final national polls.

Providence became just the third Division I school all-time to have both men’s basketball and men’s hockey programs earn NCAA Tournament bids in the same season for five consecutive years.

Driscoll’s leadership also has helped elevate the stature of women’s sports at PC. In 2018, the Women’s Cross Country team secured its fifth NCAA Northeast Regional crown in the last six seasons, and one of its members (Catarina Rocha) captured the individual BIG EAST Cross Country crown. The Friars earned their 28th NCAA Cross Country Championships berth, finishing 16th overall at the event. In addition to her efforts in cross country, the Friars’ Millie Paladino also qualified for the final of the women’s mile at the NCAA Indoor Track Championships, finishing sixth overall to earn First Team All-American recognition. The Friars’ Catarina Rocha and Abbey Wheeler both qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 5,000m event. Wheeler advanced to the final of the 5,000m, finishing 19th overall and earning Honorable Mention All-American accolades.

This impressive run kicked off when the 2013 women’s cross country team claimed the College’s second NCAA Championship. It continued with the men’s basketball team winning the 2014 BIG EAST Tournament title and advanced to the 2014 and 2015 NCAA Tournaments. The men’s hockey team made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances (2014 and 2015) for the first time in program history before claiming its first NCAA Championship with a dramatic, come-from-behind win over Boston University on April 11, 2015, at the TD Garden. It marked Providence College’s third NCAA team title and its first in a men’s sport.

For the second time in his tenure, Driscoll was recognized as the Under Armour I-AAA Athletics Director of the Year at the 51st Annual National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) convention in June 2016. In June 2008, Driscoll also was named the 2007-08 Astro Turf Athletics Director of the Year for the Division I Northeast Region at the 43rd National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Annual Convention.

Multiple Friar teams have been honored in each of the 13 years the NCAA has given out the Public Recognition Awards. Aside from excelling in the classroom and competing for championships, PC’s student-athletes are very active in the local community, with Driscoll’s enthusiastic support. Last year alone, Friar student-athletes combined for over 2,000 hours of community service, raising $28,880.

One of the biggest impacts Driscoll has had on the Providence College Athletics Department, and on the College as a whole, has been with facility development, construction and renovation. Since his arrival in 2001, Driscoll has helped spearhead a transformation of the College’s athletics facilities. The most recent addition was the Ruane Friar Development Center (RFDC), a multi-purpose building that opened in September 2018, which has already significantly enhanced Friar athletics, student services and College community life. The facility includes a 56,000 square-foot, two-court practice facility for Men’s Basketball, and improvements for other student athletes, including a new Innovation Lab, an expanded Canavan Sports Medicine Center and a student-athlete fueling station.

Other facility upgrades that have highlighted Driscoll’s tenure include an $80-million renovation of the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, which serves as the home venue for Friars men’s basketball. The project was the result of Driscoll working strategically with lead officials in the City of Providence and the State of Rhode Island. The renovations enhanced the game-day experience by adding 20 luxury boxes, new seats, a video scoreboard, sound system, updated restaurant and concession stands, team store, locker rooms and new weight training/fitness areas. These renovations have enabled Providence College to serve as host for the First and Second Rounds of the 2010, 2016, and the future 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship.

Kicking off Driscoll’s vision for the improved athletic facilities footprint at Providence College, the Concannon Fitness Center, opened in August of 2007, adjacent to Lennon Family Field (Astroturf facility), which was completed in August 2005.

A native of West Concord, Massachusetts, Driscoll was inducted into the inaugural class of Concord-Carlisle High School’s Athletic Hall of Fame (football, ice hockey and baseball) in 1993. He and his wife Cathy have three grown children.