After missing out on Robert Morris transfer Alvaro Folgueiras to Iowa, the Friars quickly pivoted to a new player. Duncan Powell is a 6-8 wing that Providence had reached out to when he first entered the portal, but he would end up committing to Georgetown. Over the weekend he reopened his recruitment and a day later committed to Kim English and the Friars. Powell joins Jason Edwards, Jaylin Sellers, Daquan Davis and Cole Hargrove for this offseason’s transfer portal class.
We recap his commitment and what that means for the 2025-2026 Friars.
Duncan Powell started his collegiate career at NC A&T prior to transferring to Sacramento State. After a year there he transferred to Georgia Tech where he started 12 games and played 29.5 mpg. Powell uses his frame to attack the basket and this past year set a career high in 3pt shooting percentage (35.8%) on 4.5 threes attempted per game.
You can tell this will be his fifth year in college judging by his frame. When I thought about the addition of Alvaro, I was thrilled with the possibility of his versatility on the offensive end. I think our offense would have been extremely potent with him. With that said, I was nervous about Alvaro guarding these elder statesmen 4 men like a Powell and Hopkins. I think Powell will be able to impose his will on defenses, especially against defenders smaller and less built than him.
Powell is going to be a bully on the glass, not necessarily because of his size, but because of his strength and effort. He brings effort every game, which Providence lacked a lot of last year.
One thing that Powell will also bring that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet is his leadership. Georgia Tech played their best basketball toward the end of the season where they won 8 of 11 games. The turnaround was credited in part to the leadership Powell brought the Yellow Jackets. Powell would earn second team All-ACC Tournament honors this past season.
I think out of all his traits, the thing I love the most is this guy’s borderline irrational confidence. Providence needs more guys like him that want the rock and aren’t afraid of the moment. As Mike alludes to above, he’ll be one of the leaders on this team due to his experience.
With Powell’s addition, Providence will have a very experienced and veteran starting five. The last time they had a team this old has to be the Sweet 16 team that was littered with upper classmen. As of this writing, the Friars starting five will probably be one of the oldest in the nation:
Edwards – True Senior (one year of JuCo)
Sellers – 5th Year Senior
Floyd Jr – 5th Year Senior
Powell – 5th Year Senior
Oswin – Sophomore
Get old and stay old. Providence is going to be a bunch of grown men next year. I can’t wait.
Summary
While it’s still too early to say who will start for Providence, it would appear that Powell would start at the power forward position. Powell is more of a wing by trade but certainly has the size and frame to play the 4. He gives Providence another scoring option as they are truly starting to round out a formidable roster.
It’s hard not to approach the whole Georgetown thing in this equation. Whatever reasons Powell decommitted from Georgetown are irrelevant. The Friars were able to lure a player that Georgetown wanted to their squad. Call us unprofessional, but it’s nice to steal one from the Hoyas after we’ve heard for two years that Cooley would be poaching talent from the Friars left and right. That still hasn’t happened, by the way.
The portal will close on April 22nd. The Friars still have roster flexibility to add more to this upcoming season’s team. It will be interesting to see if the Friars will add another addition via the portal or high school recruiting or if their 2025-2026 roster is complete.
Shagadelic, Baby!
Providence Crier Recruiting Articles
Crier Recruiting Corner – Introducing Alvaro Folgueiras: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/04/07/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-robert-morris-f-alvaro-folgueiras/
Crier Recruiting Corner – Introducing Mouhamed Dioubate: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/04/06/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-alabama-forward-mouhamed-dioubate/
Jaylin Sellers Commits to Providence: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/04/05/friars-end-historic-day-by-landing-ucf-guard-jaylin-sellers/
Jason Edwards Commits to Providence: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/04/04/friars-land-talented-vanderbilt-guard-jason-edwards/
Stefan Vaaks Commits to Providence: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/04/04/friars-recruiting-overseas-best-kept-international-secret-stefan-vaaks-joins-the-friars-for-2025-season/
Crier Recruiting Corner: Jason Edwards:https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/04/04/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-vanderbilt-guard-jason-edwards/
Daquan Davis Commits to Providence:https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/04/02/second-time-is-the-charm-one-time-friar-commit-daquan-davis-transfers-to-providence/
Crier Recruiting Corner – Introducing Cole Hargrove: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/04/01/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-drexel-forward-cole-hargrove/
2025 Portal Primer: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/03/24/the-providence-crier-2025-portal-primer-1-0/
Retention Attention: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/03/22/retention-attention-whos-in-whos-out-in-providence/
What Went Wrong: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/03/12/what-went-wrong-this-season/
Amir Jenkins: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/03/04/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-2026-pg-amir-jenkins/
Crier Recruiting Corner: Abdou Toure: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/03/03/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-2026-connecticut-wing-abdou-toure/
Crier Recruiting Corner: Marcis Ponder: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/02/26/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-2026-center-marcis-big-show-ponder/
2026 Recruiting Primer:https://theprovidencecrier.com/2024/05/08/the-providence-crier-2026-recruiting-primer-version-1-0/
You have a ton of faith in a coach who hasn’t proven himself at a high college level. He can have all the rock stars . However, if he pouts as he did last year and continues to blame players for his lack of coaching, guidance, talent evaluation and team building Friar town will be once again a lower tier team and Kim English will move to the pro game he so wants to be part of.