After the smoke from the light shows disappears, after the confetti from the whacky student contests is brushed away, basketball practice finally begins across the country on Saturday.

The prospects in Rhode Island are far from shiny. The core of Providence College's team graduated in May. Some Friar fans don't consider this to be a bad thing because it was clear the Efejuku-McDermott-Kale, et al, crew had worn out its welcome. The second year of Keno Davis will look very different. That's what a class of seven newcomers can do to a program.

Down in Kingston, the Rams are trying to keep alive the greatest stretch of winning in the history of the school. Winning 20 games again and getting back to the NIT would be a huge accomplishment in most observers' eyes.

Brown appears ready to escape the Ivy League cellar with an assist from a sharp class of newcomers. Bryant is in its second Division I season, and winning more than the eight games it did a year ago is a realistic goal for a Bulldogs team that is led by a solid group of seniors.

With that synopsis in place, here are the major questions facing the state's four D-I programs heading into the opening of practice:

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PROVIDENCE

1. Who is going to rebound and do the scoring up front? Geoff McDermott, Jonathan Kale and Randall Hanke did most of the damage up front for the last three seasons at PC. They are all gone, and who replaces them in the frontcourt is anyone's guess. The only player with any collegiate experience is redshirt sophomore Jamine “Greedy” Peterson. The Brooklyn jumping jack is in very good shape and is kissing the sky higher than ever. He's a certain starter.

After him, the contest for playing time is wide open. Bilal Dixon sat out his freshman season and has a chance to make an impact. Junior-college recruit Russ Permenter will play if he shows he's ready to rebound a little. The same goes for freshman Kadeem Batts. James Still, a frosh from Detroit who may have more raw talent than any big man, could be a year away physically.

2. Can Sharaud Curry lead the Big East in scoring? It may be possible. Davis clearly would like to see freshman point guard Johnnie Lacy and Vincent Council play well enough to move fifth-year senior Curry off the ball so he can average 20 or more points a game. It's a good plan. Curry is an elite, crafty scorer who is going to have to grab this team by the neck at times and will it to victory.

3. Is Marshon Brooks a budding star or a tease? The word at PC is if Brooks ever works as hard as he needs to, he could be a pro. Sounds like a challenge. All we know is he played about 20 minutes a game as a sophomore and was the second-leading scorer on a pretty good Big East team. We'll see if he's ready to elevate his game to the next level.

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URI

1. Who can make a deep jumper? The loss of Jimmy Baron will be felt much more than Rams fans can imagine. The chief reason the Rams boasted one of the higher-powered offenses in the country the last two seasons was the fact that Baron could ring up three points from anywhere over midcourt. That's a weapon that is not easily replaced.

It's definitely not replaced with this year's team. If you absolutely, totally needed a 3-pointer this coming year, it is not clear just who Jim Baron will get the ball to.

Keith Cothran is probably the top candidate. It's also tough not to think back to the Ben Eaves who was originally recruited by Jim Calhoun at UConn three years ago. That Ben Eaves was a dead-eye shooter. Unfortunately, we haven't seen much of that prospect. Eaves was shuttled out of UConn after one season and didn't look like a poised bomber at all in his first season as a Ram in 2008-09.

2. Replacing Kaheim Seawright appears to be a major challenge, as well. Seawright carved out a nice career at URI by boasting only one dominant trait — toughness. When the ball was on the backboard or loose on the floor, Seawright was the most likely Ram to get a hand on it. That hustle and grit is tough to find.

The leading candidates to fill that role are Lamonte Ulmer and/or Delroy James. Ulmer needs to be a board-crasher as well as continue his high-wire act on fast breaks. James is the most talented player in the state but has yet to play with consistency as a Ram. That's what Baron is looking for.

3. In order to play Baron's up-tempo style, quality depth is vital. Last year's team went 8-9 deep, but the contributions from the last two or three players was inconsistent, at best. Finding 8-9 players out of this group could actually be easier. The addition of guards Akeem Richmond and Lisandro Ruiz Moreno pumps up the backcourt, and it's hard to believe that the combination of Will Martell and Orion Outerbridge won't be ready to finally give the Rams some consistent size in the lane.

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BROWN

The Bears struggled to a disappointing finish in coach Jesse Agel's first season on the bench, but should be better this time around. Scoring forward Matt Mullery is one of the dominant players in the Ivies, and wing Peter Sullivan has enjoyed two strong seasons. The issue for the Bears is at point guard and finding some additional offense. The point-guard question will continue to linger, but Agel likes the talent that his freshman class brings. We'll see if any of the newcomers can provide an instant impact.

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BRYANT

The Bulldogs won eight games in their first Division I season, and will win even more this time around. Not only does Tim O'Shea return a solid crop of seniors, led by Cecil Greshman, but he's substantially upgraded his frontcourt, where a lack of D-I size was a major issue a year ago. Papa Lo, a 6-foot-9 transfer from UMass, will be a factor right away guarding the lane and the rim with his shot-blocking ability.

kmcnamar@projo.com