Jeff Xavier talks about coach Tim Welsh’s firing. In the background is a photo of two of PC’s top coaches — Dave Gavitt, left, and Joe Mullaney.

The Providence Journal / Frieda Squires

PROVIDENCE — When Jeff Xavier received a text message from one of his coaches about a team meeting last Saturday morning, a creepy, empty feeling hit his gut.

“I text Kevin (Kurbec) back and just wrote ‘good news or bad?’ He wrote ‘bad.’ Then I knew,” Xavier said.

A half-hour later, Tim Welsh stood in front of Xavier and many of his teammates and told them he wouldn’t be coaching them anymore. While the players felt the pulse of the general unrest surrounding their coach, when life-changing news like that hits, it supplies a jolt.

“It was shocking,” said Xavier. “I wanted to see him back bad and I was trying to stay positive. I had a very good relationship with coach Welsh.”

Weyinmi Efejuku missed the Saturday morning meeting. He was home in New York City for the weekend with his mother. When he awoke, his phone was buzzing with messages.

“I called Charles (Burch) and he told me,” the junior guard said. “I was shocked even though we’ve heard about it possibly happening. Now all we can do is wait.”

Once the news had sunk in, the players realized their lives were about to change. The coaching staff that recruited them to Providence and watches after their every athletic and academic need will be packed up and on the move in a matter of weeks.

A new set of coaches with very different personalities and methods is on the way. To say it’s unsettling is an understatement.

“Bob Driscoll met with us (Sunday) and he just said that he had to make a decision and it was the toughest decision of his life,” Xavier said of PC’s athletic director. “He couldn’t say any names of (new) coaches, but he said to believe in him and trust that he’s going to find the right guy. He said that hopefully one year from now we’ll be getting called on Selection Sunday.”

That the coaching change unfolded on the weekend when NCAA Tournament bids were unveiled was not lost on Xavier or Efejuku. PC played 14 games against NCAA teams and finished 4-10. Seven of its final eight games came against teams preparing to play in the NCAAs, and a 1-6 mark over that stretch eventually sealed Welsh’s fate.

“I felt like it was partly my fault and other players’ faults that weren’t getting the job done,” said Xavier. “Coach didn’t make those mistakes, he didn’t make the pass to (Luke) Harangody at Notre Dame, he didn’t miss last-second free throws. I wanted to step my game up even more to help keep him.”

No player seemed to battle more with Welsh than Efejuku, the talented wing guard who would score 25 points one night against Georgetown and five the next against West Virginia. Welsh benched Efejuku during the season, and the two clearly knocked heads over the player’s uneven intensity level, among other issues.

“It was up and down, but it ended up between us,” said Efejuku. “It was definitely interesting. I’ll always be speaking with coach Welsh.”

Efejuku and Xavier are part of a five-player junior class that will be closing out their college careers next season. Their goals are clear. They want to go out as winners.

“It’s my senior year. I think we’ll be better with everyone healthy,” said Efejuku. “Getting Sharaud (Curry) back will be big. It’s very important for us to stay together and continue to grow.”

Toward that end, both players were asked if they heard of any potential defections from the program. The annual Dwain Williams rumors are circulating once again. The sophomore guard from California nearly left PC last spring before he recommitted himself academically. He’s on campus and still taking classes now, but is also nursing an ankle injury that may require surgery. The new coach may have an opportunity to persuade Williams to stick around.

In his meeting with the players, Welsh stressed that the group of 12 underclassmen should remain together. Only one new player, New Jersey forward Bilal Dixon, is signed for next season.

“The players are here to do it,” Welsh said. “It would be harder for them if there were four, five, six of them, but there’s a bunch of them. I just said, ‘Stay together.’ The coach leaves, there’s always talk about this guy, that guy leaving. I told them, ‘Don’t do that.’ You have to do what’s personally best for you, but my recommendation is to stay together.”

The next coach will be the third of Xavier’s college career. He began at Manhattan with current Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez before transferring to PC and playing for one season under Welsh. What should his final coach be like?

“I’ve had two total opposite coaches and I loved them both,” said Xavier. “I didn’t want (Welsh) to go the most, out of the whole team. But now I want a hard, tough-nosed guy. His way or the highway. Coach Welsh is a very, very nice guy, on and off the court. Now this team needs a tough coach.”

kmcnamar@projo.com