The theme of this offseason will be replenishing the frontcourt. With Josh Oduro moving on to professional basketball after this season and no obvious successor on the roster, it is imperative that Kim English loads up on quality frontcourt pieces by any means possible. 2024 recruiting class, 2025 recruiting and reclassification, transfer portal, and now Junior College transfers.
Anton Bonke, the JuCo center from Eastern Arizona, is currently on a visit to Providence.
We break down his game, his recruitment, and roster fit below.
Anton Bonke is one of the more intriguing big man recruits in some time. Originally from Netherlands, he grew up in one of the more obscure areas on the globe: Vanuatu. It is north of New Zealand, east of Australia, and west of Fiji. This is proof that you can find basketball talent literally anywhere.
His raw physical traits are appealing to a Providence program without any legitimate frontcourt answers beyond 2023-2024. Bonke is 7 foot plus and already well developed physically.
He is such a mysterious prospect because he only recently picked up basketball. This is his first year of playing organized basketball in the US and is very much new to the sport. Prior to basketball, he was a legitimate world class caliber rower. Yes, you read that right.
There are many things to like about Bonke. For one, he physically looks ready to contribute in the Big East. He is by no means slender and has a really solid frame for somebody his age at 7’2. You could physically count on him to hold his own in the Big East paint and not get thrown around out there. His background in rowing probably has led to his advanced physical development.
Another thing I like is that he has an inside out game. He’s not a guy who manufactures all of his points solely in the paint because he has the height advantage over his opposition. He can produce in the low post, no doubt, but he does have the ability to stretch out and hit a perimeter shot.
In his highlights, I’ve noticed he does a really nice job of doing his homework early by getting in good post position and sealing his defender. At 7’2, if you can get the ball in the low post, it’s a wrap. For somebody with so little experience, I was caught off guard by his ability to do the more advanced things in the post.
I’m not sure if he is a Big East caliber “athlete”, but he doesn’t need to be at 7’2. I’m not concerned here.
The bottom line is that Providence needs talent AND bodies in the frontcourt. Bonke at 7 feet could give you, at a minimum, 5 fouls while also protecting the rim and paint.
The most intriguing aspect of his recruitment would be having him for 3 years. This gives the staff time to develop Bonke.
In an ideal world, Providence lands a 3 man frontcourt class that consists of Bonke, Big Oswin, and an instant impact college portal big. By having that college portal big, it allows Bonke and Oswin to develop on their own timeline and not necessarily be rushed into playing 20-25 minutes a game. That trio would eliminate the one major gap on the future Friar rosters in a literal big way.
What Providence has going for it is that they identified this talent early and are one of his more “prestigious” college offers at this time. That, along with early playing time, has to be incredibly appealing. We’ll see if Bonke wants to take his time with the recruiting process (I personally wouldn’t blame him) or if he wants to wrap up this process early. As of now, PC has to feel great about where they stand.
Providence Crier Recruiting Articles
Crier Recruiting Corner – Introducing 2025 Center Oswin Erhunmwunse – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/12/03/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-2025-big-oswin-erhunmwunse/
Recruiting Rankings Matter, Part 2: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/12/06/recruiting-rankings-matter-part-2-how-far-is-the-roster-talent-from-championship-quality/
Recruiting Rankings Matter, Part 1: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/11/29/the-providence-crier-recruiting-feature-recruiting-rankings-matter-part-1/
Rankings Do Matter: Analyzing the Final Four Rosters by Recruiting Rankings – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2021/04/03/stars-in-fact-do-matter-analyzing-the-final-4-rosters-relative-to-recruiting-rankings/
2025 Recruiting Primer, Version 3.0 – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/04/30/2025-providence-college-high-school-recruiting-primer-version-1-0/
2024 Recruiting Primer, Version 8.0 – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/03/27/providence-college-basketball-recruiting-class-of-2024/
2024 Luke Bamgboye – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/09/18/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-2024-big-man-luke-bamgboye/
Eli DeLaurier Commits to Providence & Reclassifies – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/09/06/eli-delaurier-reclassifies-and-joins-friars-for-upcoming-season/
Ryan Mela Commits to Providence – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/08/01/friars-add-3-star-wing-ryan-mela-to-2024-recruiting-class/
Were any other recruits at the Marquette game or any scheduled visits