Patriots lend team plane to Providence men's basketball team, fans for Sweet 16 trip

The Providence Friars got past the South Dakota State Jackrabbits and Richmond Spiders over the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament to earn their first trip to a Sweet 16 in 25 years, per The Associated Press (h/t ESPN). 

Providence will meet the Kansas Jayhawks Friday night in Chicago but received a bit of a hand from an NFL franchise before that matchup.

Per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN, the New England Patriots loaned their team plane to fly Providence support staff members and fans to the Windy City. It's an extra-special treat for Friars coach Ed Cooley, who grew up in Providence and is a huge supporter of the Pats. 

"It's New England teams supporting New England teams," Cooley remarked during a Thursday press conference. "Our families are able to come, our donors are able to come, our supporters are able to come. I really appreciate him looking out for us. Given how many planes are being used for the NIT, for the NCAA tournament, it just was limited."

Cooley continued: 

"I don't know how many people would do that for a small college to literally send their custom plane, their logoed plane. I'm pretty sure a lot of our fans will be on it, they're big Patriot fans. I love football. My team looks like a football team. We're not very pretty."