The 2024 high school recruiting class is going to be the first recruiting class for Kim English at Providence that truly has his fingerprints all over it. The 2023 class, comprised of Garwey Dual, Donovan Santoro, and Richard Barron, is a mix of commits that the former head coach had in the fold as well as English’s own recruits.
Two premiere 2024 recruits from the DMV area are officially visiting Friartown this weekend in Point Guard Daquan Davis and Center Patrick Ngonba II. Both are nationally known recruits that would be foundational pieces for any 2024 recruiting class.
Ngonba II is being pursued by programs throughout the country for obvious reasons. We break own his recruitment, play style, and how he would fit with the Friars.
Recruiting Profile
6′ 10 240lb Center from Paul VI – 67 Nationally in 247 Composite – https://247sports.com/player/patrick-ngongba-ii-46132143/
Ngonba II is the 12th ranked Center in the 2024 class. For perspective, recent big man offer Peyton Marshall, the Auburn decommit, is 9th overall. Somto Cyril is 5th.
Ngonba II is the 2nd ranked player in the state of Virginia, behind Duke commit Darren Harris. Recent Friar offers Garrett Sundra and Isaiah Abraham are third and fourth, respectively. The craziest thing about the rankings is the Top 4 players all play for Paul VI. Quite a DMV powerhouse, which we’ll discuss more of below.
Friar Roster Fit
The plethora of offers to big men in the 2024 class is no surprise. As of this writing, the only big men on the roster for the 2023-2024 class are Josh Oduro and Rafael Castro. After this upcoming season, Castro will legitimately be the only big man on the roster, as Oduro will be out of collegiate eligibility. Thus, English is looking for big men to replenish the roster for years to come.
Ngonba II has to see the path to playing time as extremely appealing. Ngonba II would likely walk into the Friar program guaranteed to get 15-20 minutes a game off the bench, but could theoretically start at the 4 or 5 for Providence as a true freshman. That is both a testament to his skill set as well as need for big men on the Friar roster. Both can be true.
Analyzing His Game
Ngonba II is both highly rated and still raw. The best is yet to come for this big man. He continues to mold his body to being more “college ready”, as you can absolutely see that development over the years. That’s a welcome sight if you are a college coach projecting his development.
He has the prerequisite size for a front court player in the Big East and has an aptitude for crashing the glass. Last weekend, he was awarded All-Circuit team at a Nike EYBL (AAU) event amongst two UNC commits and Karter Knox (who will choose wherever he wants to go). High praise for the big man.
He also led that session in rebounds, which is what you want to see in your frontcourt players that rely upon their size and athleticism to man the paint. If your team’s big men are doing nothing else but owning the glass and securing rebounds, that’s a heck of a foundation to work with. Rebounding is an effort stat, in my opinion.
Ngonba II’s athleticism is on display on the defensive end. He is a springy player that plays above the rim. He is truly a defensive presence, protecting the cylinder and paint area.
Lastly, his effort level is through the roof. This should be a given with all prep players trying to make the jump to high level D1, but it oddly isn’t. He has a high motor and is active on both ends.
Ngonba II is still developing, but you love the raw tools that he has to work with. Providence would be thrilled to make this big man the first piece of the 2024 class.
High Level Summary
I can assure you that this is not me hedging my bets here. Even if Ngonba II chooses to go elsewhere, English is doing the right thing in aggressively recruiting him. Ngonba II plays for both an elite high school team in Paul VI and AAU team in Team Take Over, respectively. This is the type of recruiting that pays dividends long term even if Ngonba II doesn’t choose the Friars.
Team Take Over’s roster has players littered with PC offers: Isaiah Abraham, Daquan Davis (currently visiting PC with Ngonba II), Garrett Sundra, and Caleb Williams, to name a few.
English recently stopped by Paul VI to visit all of the players that English has offered. It is brilliant recruiting by English. Becoming friendly and close with Team Take Over and Paul VI is an astute strategy.
We’ll hear more about his official visit after this weekend. Regardless of outcome, getting Ngonba and Davis on campus this early into the English tenure is a resounding success.
Crier Recruiting Articles
Crier Recruiting Corner – Guard Daquan Davis – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/05/06/24-recruiting-spotlight-daquan-davis/#more-6898
2025 Recruiting Primer, Version 1.0 – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/04/30/2025-providence-college-high-school-recruiting-primer-version-1-0/
Crier Recruiting Corner: 2024 Big Man Somto Cyril: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/04/24/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-2024-big-man-somto-cyril/
2024 Recruiting Primer, Version 4.0:https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/03/27/providence-college-basketball-recruiting-class-of-2024/
Transfer Portal Primer, Version 3.0: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/03/28/tracking-the-transfers-pc-targets-in-the-2023-portal-providence-crier-transfer-portal-primer/
Garwey Dual Commitment Article: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2022/09/01/deep-dive-analysis-of-2023-providence-commit-garwey-dual/
Transfer Portal Spotlight: Davonte “Ticket” Gaines: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/04/08/davonte-ticket-gaines-following-kim-english-to-friartown/
Rich Barron Commitment Article: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/04/10/richard-barron-commits-to-providence-analyzing-the-impact/
Transfer Portal Spotlight: Josh Oduro: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/03/25/transfer-portal-spotlight-george-mason-forward-josh-oduro/
Transfer Portal Spotlight: Justyn Fernandez: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/03/26/transfer-portal-spotlight-george-mason-wing-justyn-fernandez/
Crier Recruiting Corner: George Turkson Jr.: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/03/03/the-crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-2024-forward-george-turkson-jr/
Crier Recruiting Corner: Kany Tchanda: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2022/12/29/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-kany-tchanda/
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