Ahead of the 2024-2025 season, The Providence Crier is doing an extensive player preview for each scholarship player for the Providence Friars.
If there is ever an opportunity to make an Austin Powers reference, I’m going to pounce on it.
So, here we are previewing the Providence Friar 7’2 big man from the island of Vanuatu. Bonke comes to the Big East after playing a semester of Junior College ball at Eastern Arizona. Bonke enrolled at Providence in the spring semester last year, but did not play. Bonke has three years of eligibility remaining and is one third of an imposing triumvirate of developing bigs alongside Christ Essandoko and Oswin Erhunmwunse.
I have to applaud Kim English for recognizing he needed to dramatically improve one of the key areas of weakness from last year’s roster. Providence needed to both replace the production of Josh Oduro while also rounding out the depth behind whomever was the individual that will ultimately replace Oduro as the starting 5 man in 2024. Quite a “tall” task (I’ll be here all week).
Josh Oduro was a stellar big man for Providence last year, achieving All-Conference honors, but there was absolutely no depth behind him. I don’t necessarily blame English or the staff, as Will McNair Jr. leaving at the last possible moment put Providence in an untenable position. Magnify that with the Bryce Hopkins season ending injury (BHop could absolutely have slid to the 5 and held his own for 10 minutes a game), and Providence absolutely had the weakest frontcourt in the conference when excluding Oduro and Hopkins.
The Butler game brought that to light when Oduro did not play due to the birth of his son. It was apparent five minutes into the game that Providence didn’t have a 5 man that could play extended Big East minutes with Oduro absent. Any time that Oduro got in foul trouble you held your breath as a Friar fan because you knew you needed him back on the court as soon as possible. No lead was safe without Oduro on the court.
Kim English, to his credit, turned this massive weakness into a strength for 2024 and beyond. Providence arguably has the tallest frontcourt in the Big East now, with Bonke being the tallest on the roster at 7’2. Christ Essandoko is the presumed starter and successor to Oduro, a 7 foot center who transferred from St. Joes. Rounding out the “5” would be blue chip freshman big Oswin Erhunmwunse, who is only 6’9, but makes up for the lack of height with elite athleticism. What makes this frontcourt unique is that each of these bigs are different from each other and will bring variety to the court. That will make it extremely difficult to strategize around defending the Providence frontcourt.
So, where does Bonke fit into the mix? The practice reports in the fall will be revealing as to how English and staff plan to deploy Bonke. At a minimum, he is going to be a guy that can protect the rim due to his height and length and give Providence five fouls; however, I think pigeonholing him into that role may be selling him short. A world-class rower as a youth, he possesses a fluidity to his game that you just don’t see often from guys his height. He is by no means a stiff, which you’d expect from somebody who has played so little of basketball. He moves incredibly well and has a physical build to him that should hold up in the Big East the moment he steps on the court. I’m not worried at all about him wilting against the opposition.
Bonke additionally has, to my surprise, a really smooth shooting stroke. I don’t foresee him playing on the perimeter much, as Providence has enough talent on the wings and in the backcourt, but he does appear to have the ability to knock down a perimeter shot. Players his size shouldn’t move the way he does and have such an effortless looking stroke. You can’t teach that.
If nothing else, Providence has a guy they can put at the 5 to give Essandoko a rest, and the frontcourt won’t implode like it did last year when Oduro hit the bench. If the floor for Bonke is replicating Castro’s production from last year, that should be relatively easy to do, and I personally have much higher expectations for Bonke next year.
You can’t teach being 7’2, and he will influence the game defensively by not only blocking shots, but altering the trajectory of shots. Think about how many shots Kalkbrenner influences without necessarily getting his hands on the ball. I could see some of that transpiring for Bonke on the defensive end.
The biggest learning curve for Bonke may be matching the intensity of his opposition. I don’t foresee him getting bullied in the low post due to his build (he’s listed at 270 pounds…), but it may take some time for him to acclimate to the urgency of playing in the Big East. You can’t take plays off in this conference, and I know English will give him the hook if there is a mental lapse. The Big East is uber-competitive, and I want to see if Bonke has that fire in his belly.
The thing he has going for him is being able to practice last year against an All-Conference big in Josh Oduro (baptism by fire), and now going against another gargantuan in Christ Essandoko.
Sidenote: Watching Josh Oduro play marvelous against some of the elite bigs in the Big East like Clingan and Kalkbrenner made me wonder if the mid-year addition of Bonke helped Oduro prep for going against players 3-5 inches bigger than him. Wishful thinking? Maybe.
I foresee a season where we see flashes of brilliance from Bonke, but one in which it is apparent he has only been playing organized basketball for a handful of years. He is raw from an experience perspective, and that will likely be very apparent at times. That is okay though. Providence has this 7’2 ball of clay to mold for the next 3 years, and he is the type of player you can legitimately build your frontcourt around. I don’t think that’s a hyperbolic comment, as I do think he may be one of the more well-regarded bigs in the conference in 2025.
Add Essandoko and Erhunmwunse, and Providence should have a (at worst) middle of the pack frontcourt in the Big East this year, with the potential of having the best frontcourt in the conference in 2026 as all three youngsters go through the growing pains of the Big East.
Pencil Bonke in for 10 minutes a game for me. That’s a successful season for the 7 footer from the South Pacific as he commences his Big East collegiate experience.
Crowd Sourced Expectations from Season Ticket Holders
Pete, Class of 2011: Bonke: he’s very tall. But if Castro taught us anything, it’s that being tall doesn’t make you good at basketball. I am so happy he will be learning from and battling in practice against Christ and Oswin, and most importantly, not being forced into serious minutes this year (hopefully) as someone who is still learning the game. That said, I love his upside. He’s freaking huge, seems to be developing his game and body, and getting a feel for being on the floor. We need a center who wants to battle down low, fight for boards, putbacks, etc and just swat the shit out of guards that try to weave to the rack. If he gives us 10 solid minutes a game this year and continues to develop, I will be thrilled.
Joe, Class of 2012: Pretty certain his family was in town for the Creighton thriller last season. They were decked out in Friar gear, dancing to get on the Jumbotron, then postgame ran over to the tunnel to high five the players as they left the court. They were so happy for Anton to be on this team, and I am too. Seems he’s really buying into the KE Mindset and loving Friartown. No idea how to predict Anton, but he might be the strongest guy in the Big East next year.
Providence Crier Player Previews
Justyn Fernandez: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2024/09/09/providence-crier-player-preview-is-the-hype-too-early-for-justyn-fernandez/
Patience is a virtue, let us see how many we have.