T&G article on Joe P

WORCESTER — The first time Murdock boys’ basketball coach Matt O’Malley saw Holy Cross star forward Joe Pridgen play was the summer before Pridgen entered eighth grade, and a few months before O’Malley took over the program at the Winchendon high school, his alma mater.

Pridgen was 6 feet, able to dunk, and stood out to O’Malley not just because of his size, but also because of his skill.

“I had never seen him before,” O’Malley said, “so I asked one of the refs, ‘Who is this kid?’ He told me, ‘His name is Joe, and he’s going into eighth grade.’ I said, ‘Going into eighth grade? What?’ He was the best player on the court, and he was going into eighth grade. It just boggled my mind.”

Pridgen played for Murdock’s varsity team as an eighth-grader and had some special traits.

“The biggest thing I noticed about him when he was young,” O’Malley said, “was he just had a great feel for the game. He was always in the right spot, and it’s hard to teach that sometimes, and he just had it.”

With Division 1 college aspirations, Pridgen, as a freshman, went the prep route and moved on to the Winchendon School for two years, and then to Governor’s Academy in Byfield.

Pridgen said his Murdock coaches encouraged him to “go for it,” and he did.

The 6-foot-5 freshman leads Holy Cross in scoring (16.6 ppg), field goal percentage (55%) and rebounding (7 per game) and ranks among the Patriot League top six in each of those categories. Pridgen, who on Monday earned his sixth Patriot League Rookie of the Week award, is a front-runner for PL Rookie of the Year honors.

“Joe is a guy who has continued to get better because of his work ethic,” HC coach Brett Nelson said. “He’s become a lot more consistent over the past few months with his practice habits and his approach, which has been really, really impressive, and I think it’s shown through his play.”


Pridgen, an All-NEPSAC performer at Governor’s, committed to Holy Cross expecting to play for coach Bill Carmody and in his Princeton offense.

Carmody retired last June, Nelson was hired and brought a different playing style.

“I came into it with an open mind and ready to work hard,” Pridgen said before a recent practice. “We had two of the (2018-19) starters (Caleb Green and Jacob Grandison) who left, and that was an opportunity for me to step up, put myself out there and get a starting role and have a chance to play well.”

Pridgen has started all but one game, has scored 20 or more points in each of the last three games and in double figures in 14 of the last 15. In a loss at American last week, he posted his first double-double with 28 points and 12 rebounds.

“I’ve come a long way,” Pridgen said. “At the beginning of the year, I felt like I was playing kind of slow. Once I got used to the pace at the college level and how teams play on defense, I felt like I was able to get comfortable and that helped me get that mindset.”

Pridgen said talking to his mom also helped.

It’s been a rough season for the Crusaders, who take a 3-18 record (2-6 Patriot League) into Wednesday night’s game at Navy, but they are making progress and showed plenty of determination last week in coming back from 17 down to beat Lehigh in overtime.


“We want to be winning games,” Pridgen said. “We’re a young team and a lot of execution down the stretch and mental mistakes cost us games, but the record doesn’t describe what kind of team we are. We’re a great team with a lot of fight. We play with a lot of edge. We’re scrappy. Our whole team is pushing.”

Pridgen got off to a slow start in the Lehigh game with three turnovers and just four points in the first half. He helped key HC’s second-half comeback and scored seven of the Crusaders’ 12 points in overtime.

“Our guys were resilient and he was one of the leaders of the charge in the second half,” Nelson said. “That shows his growth. I’m not sure he would have done that three months ago. He got past the first half and played unbelievable in the second half and overtime. I thought in the American game he was terrific for the whole game. His energy and his motor are contagious and it rubs off on the other guys.”

Pridgen was born in Oklahoma and moved to Winchendon when he was in second grade. He has six brothers. One of his younger brothers, Quentin, a sophomore at Oakmont Regional, leads Mid-Wach C in scoring with 19 points per game.

Pridgen, who played on the national AAU circuit for Expressions Elite, said he drew interest from some Ivy League schools, and his top three college choices were Towson, New Hampshire and Holy Cross. He said HC’s academics/athletics combination was a deciding factor for him.

“I know the ball is going to stop bouncing at some point,” Pridgen said, “and I will have a good degree to fall back on. I’m going to try to do everything I can with basketball first, and Holy Cross will give me the opportunity to do both.”

Pridgen is enjoying his studies this semester in psychology, anthropology and Black Europe, and the Montserrat seminar for freshmen, and his overall experience at Holy Cross.


“It’s a fun spot, the hill,” he said. “It’s not fun to walk up, but other than that, it’s good.”

O’Malley has been to see Pridgen play once at the Hart Center this season and has watched other Holy Cross games streaming and on NESN.

“He’s doing great,” O’Malley said. “He’s really worked hard on his skills and his jump shot, and he’s still working. Being a freshman and making an impact at the Division 1 level is no small task. We’re super proud of him.”

Let's keep an eye on little brother!

Impressive, esp for a freshman, even if the comp may be weak
Athletic(genetic), ball hawk, Euro step, shoots the three, fierce competitor(genetic)
Hope he grows,
Wonder how he handles it. Plenty of time to develop that.

“I came into it with an open mind and ready to work hard,” Pridgen said before a recent practice. “We had two of the (2018-19) starters (Caleb Green and Jacob Grandison) who left, and that was an opportunity for me to step up, put myself out there and get a starting role and have a chance to play well.”

Other top recruits take note. He’s logical and with the right attitude.

From the T&G standpoint, it adds to the story (and the potential for more) that he's from Worcester County.  We don't get too many that local.  I think Vander Baan was the most recent.


Pat Benzan probably grew up a shorter drive to the school than Joe, but he was outside the T&G footprint

I remember Tony Hanson very well from the UConn teams of the mid seventies.  I believe Joey Whelton was from the same class or one behind him.  Hanson could really play.  Whelton was an excellent player as well.  New England college basketball was so much fun to follow in that decade.  

Pridgen has made 47% of his threes, best on the team by a significant margin - he just doesn't take a lot of them, since he's so good at getting higher percentage shots and drawing fouls (42.5% FTR).

I agree he doesn't take a lot of them - 17 in 662 minutes or 1 every 39 minutes - essentially 1 per game.

I think the 47% is deceiving based on the sample size.

From my eye it looks like he prefers to not take a 3 point shot  - it is almost like he will do it as a last resort when no one is apt to come out and guard him.

I would like to see him develop the shot in the flow of the game. If the opposition has to protect against him as a 3 point threat, IMO, because of his quickness, it will open up his ability to get to the basket
.