If any one word describes the Providence College teams of coach Ed Cooley in the 2010's, one comes to mind: resilience. The Friars rarely had the talent stockpile of its opponents but their hard work and determination would carry them far, as PC earned a school-record five consecutive NCAA tournament appearances from 2013-2018. Resilience was a storyline through the career of Kris Dunn, who battled two career-threatening surgeries to become the most heralded Providence guard in the Big East era.

There was no doubt as to Dunn's talent coming out of high school, where the top-25 recruit led New London (CT) with a 31 point, 10 rebound average as a a senior. He turned down offers from Connecticut, Georgetown and Boston College to sign with Providence, becoming one of that school's highest ranked recruits in a generation. In June 2012, prior to his freshman season, Dunn suffered a shoulder tear, that sidelined him for six months. He saw action in 25 games with a 5.7 point average, still bothered by the surgery. A year later, while playing in a pre-season exhibition versus Rhode Island College, Dunn dived for a loose ball and injured his shoulder again. After just four games, he was pulled for the season and underwent a second surgery.

There are plenty of stories of players who, through no fault of their own, are never the same player after recovering from surgery. Admitting that he needed to relearn the game following the second surgery, Dunn returned in 2014-15 and began one of the great two year runs of any guard in PC history.

In his second game back, Dunn scored 10 points, five rebounds, seven assists and five steals in 32 minutes. Three days later, he scored 12 points, seven rebounds, and 14 assists. Though he did not lead the Friars in scoring, his mark was everywhere into Big East play: 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists versus Butler, 27 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists versus DePaul, and 19 points, eight assists and six steals versus Seton Hall. averaging 15 points a game and finishing in the top five nationally in both assists and steals, Dunn was named the Big East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in 2015, the first time in Big East history that a guard won both honors in the same year. Despite the fact that the Friars were knocked out in the Big East semifinals, Dunn's 22 points, seven rebound, and nine assist effort versus #4 Villanova earned him a place on the all-tournament team .

The pre-season pick to repeat as Big East Player of the Year in 2015-16, Dunn led the field from start to finish, opening the season with 32 points, six rebounds, five assists and eight steals in the Friars' opener versus NJIT and a triple double (16 points, 10 rebounds, 14 assists) two weeks later versus Hartford. Dunn had one of his biggest days of the season at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, as the Friars upset #4 Villanova 82-76 in overtime behind Dunn's 13 points, 14 assists, and four steals in the game.

After dropping five of six in february, PC recovered to win its last three in conference play to earn a fourth seed ion the tournament, where Dunn has held to nine points and six assist as Villanova advanced in the semifinal, 78-66. With its third consecutive NCAA bid for the first time since 1963-66, Providence advanced to the second round, where despite 29 from Dunn the Friars lost to North Carolina. Dunn became the first guard to be awarded Big East Player of the Year in consecutive seasons since Chris Mullin.

With his degree, Dunn opted not to pursue a fifth year of eligibility and instead entered the NBA draft, selected with the fifth pick overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves. After a year on Minnesota's bench, he was traded to the Chicago Bulls, where he currently starts with a 12 point, six assist per game average.

In 2016, Providence Journal columnist Jim Donmaldson wrote that "[Earlier this year] I put Kris Dunn fourth [all-time at PC], behind only Jimmy Walker, Lenny Wilkens and Ernie DiGregorio, and ahead of the likes of Eric Murdock, Johnny Egan, Bryce Cotton, Billy Donovan, Vin Ernst, God Shammgod and Vincent Council. That's elite company, and Dunn certainly belongs in it, although exactly where is admittedly debatable...What's not in the least debatable is that he'll be sorely missed."