Hope all of Friartown has been enjoying their summer’s thus far. I have been working on my tan and my beach bod this summer, the latter of which should be ready by Thanksgiving. There have been several newsworthy topics that have occurred for the Friars the past couple of weeks and figured I’d share my thoughts.
Dajour Dickens Transfers
Towards the end of June the Friar big man decided to take his talents elsewhere and just a few days later transferred to Old Dominion. Ever since Dickens committed to the Friars we knew he’d be a project and would need to add muscle to his long frame and a vastly improved offensive game. Part of me was intrigued in what type of player Dajour could be but with the roll Ed has been on with recruiting I’ll gladly take the open scholarship.
Holt to Play on Italy Trip
I’m beyond relieved I didn’t have to spend all summer wondering if Emmitt Holt would be ready to play for the Friars this upcoming season. In July it was announced that he would play on the Friars upcoming trip to Italy. If Emmitt can even just be as good as he was his junior season it will be a huge boost to what was an experienced front court last season. I can’t wait to see what this duo of Holt and Nate Watson can bring for the Friars this season and even throw Kalif Young in there who can occasionally provide a spark.
Greg Gantt Becomes a Friar
In the end of July I tweeted out a video of ESPN #53 ranked prospect for 2019 Greg Gantt. After watching the video I texted a few Friar buddies of mine that I thought Greg Gantt to PC was going to happen. He expressed how great of a relationship he has built with Ed Cooley, how Ed has been extremely loyal to him and that loyalty and relationship with coach would be his top priority for choosing a school. Just three days later Gantt announced that he would in fact be a Friar next season. Gantt is a tall athletic forward who has shooting range and can put the ball on the floor, really look forward to him donning the black and white.
Dahmir Bishop Has PC and Rhody Among His Final 8
Two days ago it was announced that ESPN 100 guard Dahmir Bishop cut his list to 8 schools with PC and URI amongst them. The guard out of Philly seems to be trending towards URI especially with fellow Philly guard Fatts Russell playing for the Rams. There are other intriguing schools in the mix however including the University of Florida, Xavier and hometown schools Penn St and Temple. It would be great to see if it came down to just URI and Providence but I see him going to URI. Considering the Friars just landed Gantt I wouldn’t lose much sleep on it and if losing Bishop to URI means we’d land Akok Akok then sign me up.
New Changes For NCAA
Today major changes were announced by the NCAA Basketball allowing players to be represented by agents, receive benefits from those agents and undrafted players having the ability to return to school. On the surface of it would appear that the NCAA is finally gearing towards the inevitability of paying players however if you look at the details of the rules you realize it’s a bunch of bullshit. First the agents have to be certified by the NCAA and are only provided to players who are considered “elite athletes’ deemed by USA Basketball. What the hell does that mean??? So you’re telling me Coach K is in charge of identifying which players are “elite” and can get paid by agents? Secondly the undrafted players being eligible to return to school has a major caveat to it. In order to qualify for this you would’ve needed to be invited to the NBA Combine. Last season 69 players were invited to the combine and there’s 60 players who are drafted. So that means those 9 players that don’t get picked can return to school, Whoopty Doo Basil! I will say this though it will be hilarious to watch college fans root for their players to go undrafted so they can return to school.
That’s all I got for now, you can catch me on twitter @ProvidenceCrier , enjoy the rest of your summer Friar fans, Midnight Madness will be here before you know it!
GO FRIARS!