Mohegan - His last official act in this building before Saturday afternoon was March 19, 2011, the exclamation point on an undefeated high school basketball season. Even in triumph, though, Kris Dunn, New London whiz kid, experienced some foreshadowing for his college career that night, when he crumbled momentarily after taking a shot to an unfortunate part of the male anatomy.

His dad, John Seldon, louder than a lawn mower in the front row, urged him to forget about it.

But that's been the story - until now, anyway - of Dunn's time at Providence College: It's been one, giant pain in the, well, you know.

With his dad still urging him on.

The pain, actually, has been in his shoulder, a nagging, sometimes throbbing ailment that had robbed Dunn of virtually an entire season. In two years, he had played a total of 29 games. Even the master of ceremonies at the optimism convention might wonder: Is this thing ever going to get better?

"If you think about situations that way," Dunn said Saturday after Providence turned Mohegan Sun Arena into the Friars Club, "you won't play as well as you can. My dad is always making sure I'm good. It's a blessing to be back on the court."

The blessing, for those who know and appreciate where Dunn has come from, what he stands for and where he may go one day, is watching him be Kris Dunn again.

The stat sheet read 15 points and nine assists, following Providence's 80-54 beatdown of Florida State. But it was more than that. It was Dunn's joie de vivre.

The crossover/anklebreaker in the lane that snuffed a Florida State run, one of the few times the Seminoles showed a pulse.

The one-hand, no-look flip to LaDontae Henton, whose dunk blew the roof off Neon Uncasville, 7,813 strong, nearly all wearing black and white.

And finally, exiting to a standing ovation with 2 minutes, 21 seconds left.

"Kris Dunn," Henton said, "is a very exciting player."

And a fearless one now. No more concerns over the shoulder. It's just basketball.

Dunn's game has always followed the same script: freakish athleticism, long arms, trustworthy with the ball, suspect shot. One professional scout at Saturday's game said he believes Dunn will leave Providence with NBA levels of athleticism, ballhandling and court vision.

Maybe there's a reason Dunn lists his favorite player as Rajon Rondo.

And now if he can just make enough of them from the perimeter to keep defenses honest, the kid's got a shot at The Show. This was a good start. He made a 15-footer and 17-footer in the first half, no hesitation, totally within the flow of the offense. So much for hometown-guy-coming-home jitters.

"I had a lot of energy coming in," Dunn said. "My teammates did an unbelievable job keeping me poised. They told me 'Kris, just play your game.'"

The Friars return to Mohegan Sun today to conclude the Hall of Fame Tip Off Tournament against Notre Dame. The Irish had a considerable number of supporters for their victory over UMass. But this will be a road game. This will be Friartown. UConn fans would have hated it here Saturday. Lots of love for the Friars.

"When we were recruiting Kris way back when and sweating out the recruiting process, I talked to (Providence assistant) coach (Brian) Blaney about where can we get Kris back home and use that as part of the recruiting opportunity for him," Providence coach Ed Cooley said. "I hope the building is more full (today). We are playing a great team in Notre Dame. We fed off the crowd. I thought we were playing at the Dunkin' Donuts Center."

Dunn left the floor with the rest of his happy teammates, his family and friends soaking it in near the tunnel. Their looks of joy told the story even better than the scoreboard did. Their guy came home and authored another memorable night at Mohegan Sun. But more than that, he came back as the old Kris Dunn.

The happiest kid on the court.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius