2024 Providence Crier Portal Needs

With the 2023-2024 season complete, it is now time to turn to the offseason. Providence is going to have a lot of holes to fill on the roster, and English schematically is trying to turn the roster over to more fit his style of play he desires. Josh Oduro and Ticket Gaines are out of eligibility, and Devin Carter is likely heading to the NBA. On top of that, Garwey Dual, Donovan Santoro, and Rafael Castro have also transferred from the program. The turnover is drastic this offseason, but I’d argue it is necessary.

Update: Devin Carter has officially declared so Providence will need to, at a minimum, replace its starting 2, 3, and 5. In the past, this would be seen as some massive task, but the portal has allowed coaches to quickly fill gaps and needs, and this type of roster turnover is common practice now.

Too many times this past season, we saw a roster built by Ed Cooley trying to convert to English’s scheme. Ed Cooley’s teams are physical teams that bully you in the post and paint, using said physicality to muck up a game and “win ugly”. You’ll never label Cooley’s teams as offensive juggernauts.

English wants to run a more up tempo, pace and space offense. His bigs will rim run and be the focal point of the 4 out, 1 in offense. You couldn’t find two more dissimilar coaching styles offensively, to be honest.

Thus, what we saw this past year was a roster built for an entirely different system, and it seemed too often English was fitting a square peg in a round hole. Not enough shooters were on the roster, despite designs that led to wide open looks more often than not.

This will be the first full offseason where Kim can evaluate his roster and see what enhancements he needs to make to build his ideal team. Additionally, he probably learned a fair amount after his first Big East season about what his teams need to be an upper echelon Big East squad.

Below, we break down the current roster, number of scholarships available, and where we think English should prioritize filling those open roster spots.

Providence Current Scholarship Roster 2024-2025 & Eligibility

PG – Jayden Pierre (2 years), Bensley Joseph (1 year)

SG/Wing – Rich Barron (3), Corey Floyd Jr. (2), Justyn Fernandez (3), Ryan Mela (4)

Frontcourt – Anton Bonke (3), Eli DeLaurier (4), Bryce Hopkins (1)

As of this writing, blue chip big man Oswin Erhunmwunse has not reclassified to 2024.

If everything stays as is, along with Oswin reclassing, Providence has 3 open scholarships.

Realistically, I could see Providence adding up to 5 new players, which is somewhat shocking to write and say aloud. I won’t speculate on who may leave off the above roster, as that isn’t fair to do, but I think English realizes there may be a few players that aren’t at the Big East level.

In my personal opinion, we’ll be closer to 5 new additions than 3. Welcome to the world of NIL and free agency.

Providence has already added one player in Bensley Joseph, and he fills the need described below of another lead guard. He should be joined by a portal player or two in the next week.

Roster Needs

Starting Five Man – Josh Oduro was a blessing last year and helped keep this team afloat alongside Devin Carter. It was pretty apparent that Providence didn’t have an adequate back-up 5 when Oduro subbed out or was in foul trouble.

With Oduro gone, I don’t feel comfortable with the 5 spot being manned by one of Bonke or Oswin. While I’m extremely high on Bonke and Oswin for the future of the Friar frontcourt, they are too green to be relied upon to hold down the frontcourt next year.

Ideally, English brings in another Josh Oduro who can be an all-conference type center with only one year of eligibility remaining. If you bring in a center with multiple years of eligibility, it may cause the younger centers to look towards the transfer portal.

Pass First Point Guard – Especially with Dual leaving, Providence needs another lead guard. I’m incredibly high on Pierre, as he still has two years remaining, but he’s a better scoring guard than true lead guard at this stage of his career. The Boston College NIT game was a microcosm of where Pierre is at. When he’s on offensively, he’s a lethal scoring threat, but he is still too careless with the basketball. Providence needs a guy that can effectively and efficiently run an offense to Kim’s liking.

Update: English seemingly got his primary target in Miami PG Bensley Joseph. Joseph was on campus last week and committed on Friday. His stats aren’t eye popping, but he does a few things well that English prioritizes: Play Defense (1.5 steals/game last year) and Shoot The Three (Career 38% 3 ball shooter).

Joseph also only has one year of eligibility left, so Pierre knows the team is his moving forward. Some semblance of roster continuity is important, and this past NCAA tournament showed how crucial it is to have experience at the lead guard position. You see a lot of Pierre in NC State guard Horne, for instance.

A point guard that can orchestrate an offense and get his teammates in positions to score would be great for next year’s team, as well as help be a mentor to Pierre as he takes the reins as a senior.

Shooters – I’m not going to make the delineation between a shooting guard or wing. I think Providence needs to add two shooters on the perimeter that can play the 2 or 3.

There were a multitude of stats that came out throughout the season that showed that Providence was taking high quality shots, but was not converting on these shots anywhere close to an acceptable rate. Simply put, Providence doesn’t currently have enough guys who can make an open look. That’s a problem.

Beyond needing to add players that fit the Kim English offense, Providence needs to reload with Devin Carter departing for the NBA. That’s a talent gap that won’t be remedied, but English needs to replace that talent with a few high end transfers.

By adding shooters, it’ll open up the floor for the lead guards and not cause a clog in the paint. It’ll also prevent the 5 man from being doubled, which we saw far too often with Oduro this year. Teams dared other players to knock down open looks for Providence, and we often times could not do that.

Depth Forward – This isn’t as much of a pressing need as the need for shooters, a lead point guard, and starting center, but I think it’s important to add somebody who can give you minutes at the 4 when Hopkins needs a rest. Coming off an injury, we don’t want Bryce to be forced into playing 30-35 minutes/game. If Providence could land a player to give you 15-20 minutes at the 4, it’ll do wonders for Bryce not fading as the season progresses. Providence is going to ask a lot of Bryce, and English needs to be careful not to run him into the ground.

As of right now, I’m not confident we have this player on the roster.

Summary – While it seems like I’ve essentially said we need a new player for every position, I do think the current state of the roster has a healthy floor. A starting line-up of Pierre, Barron, Fernandez, Hopkins, and Oswin is likely a middle of the road Big East team. It has star power in Hopkins, and there is experience with Pierre at the lead guard. That’s a good place to be right now.

The additions to the roster are meant to solidify the depth, as well as make the jump to being a top end squad in the Big East. Providence had high end talent this year, but absolutely no real depth. When injuries took place, it sunk the season. By adding these portal players, English is rectifying that issue.

Starting 5 Prediction (4/8 Update)

Bensley Joseph

Jayden Pierre

Floyd/Fernandez/Barron/Transfer 3

Hopkins

Transfer 5