A meteoric rise. That’s how you can describe Costello’s recruitment over the past few weeks after a stellar few showings at high level AAU camps like the Pangos All American Camp and NBAPA Top 100 Camp. After showing his versatility, schools have come knocking on his door to land the athletic stretch 4 out of Massachusetts.
Providence was one of those schools to recently offer and jump into the fray of his recruitment. Costello is being courted by top schools throughout the country, but Providence is hoping being the “local school” coupled with having a former teammate on the roster in Ryan Mela will seal the deal.
We break down his game, recruitment, and what he’d bring to the program.
If you are expecting to see a lanky kid whose single asset is shooting the rock, you’d be mistaken. Costello absolutely can shoot it from deep and this ability at 6’10 is a massive tool in his skillset, but he also has athleticism off the dribble and can finish in transition and at the rim.
He has some fluidity to his game that I wasn’t expecting, and I think THAT is the reason all these schools are knocking on his door. He is not a single tool player. Yes, being almost 7 feet tall and a sniper from deep will get you a plethora of offers, but it’s his ability to also run the floor and take his man off the dribble that has teams lining up for him. This isn’t a prospect still growing into his height with the awkwardness you’d expect. He’s smooth, and I again admit I wasn’t expecting to see that when popping on the tape.
If you want to make a comp to a former Friar, the name that immediately comes to mind is Noah Horchler. I’m not sure he has the bounce that Horchler did (Horchler’s ability to quickly get off the floor was such a skill particularly on the glass and in offensive putback scenarios), but I think his offensive game is more well rounded than Noah’s. If Horchler was denied a look from deep, he did struggle to create off the bounce. I don’t see that same issue with Costello. I also think Costello is a bit taller than Horchler too, for what it’s worth. For a non Friar comp currently playing in the Big East, Ben Gold of Marquette comes to mind for me.
Providence right now has Oswin manning the 5, but they don’t have another frontcourt player to stretch the court. Costello would fit that mold to a tee. Jamier Jones may get the look at the 4 as a sophomore and play some bully ball like Hopkins did, but I know English ideally wants to have a rim running big like Oswin surrounded by shooters to space the floor. Costello is what we envisioned DeLaurier becoming as an upperclassmen.
Costello does still need to put on some size and bulk to withstand the rigors of Big East basketball, but you can say that for arguably 90% of all high school frontcourt prospects entering the Big East. He’ll get bullied in the paint on the defensive end and may be a short term liability defensively, but his height and length will hopefully offset that, and I don’t think English will have him playing the 5 at all if he were to enroll at PC. That’d be a misuse of his skillset, in my opinion.
Costello’s recruitment has exploded not just because of his combination of size and skill, but because he’s actually gone out and performed at the highest levels. At the Pangos All American camp, he was named Co-MVP, and that camp always is littered with high level D1 players and future pros. At the NBAPA Top 100 camp, he was singled out as being a stellar player and received over ten offers from that camp alone.
Currently, Costello is ranked as 74 overall on 247 and 101 overall on the 247Composite. I’d expect him to end his prep career in the Top 75 when it’s all said and done. Currently, he is the third ranked prospect out of Massachusetts. He is behind Amir Jenkins, who the Friars are having on campus on June 24th, and Alex Egbuonu, who will be on campus unofficially on June 26th. I applaud English for prioritizing the local recruits, especially those who are nationally known recruits like the ones above.
I know Providence has a need for frontcourt bodies, and I’m hoping Costello is a mainstay at Friar games in 2025-2026. If Providence can pair Costello with a true five, their frontcourt will be set for the foreseeable future.
We’ll see where this recruitment goes, but I am a big Costello fan and hope he ends up in the black and white.
PROVIDENCE RECRUITING ARTICLES
2027 Recruiting Primer, Version 1 – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/06/17/2027-high-school-recruiting-primer-version-1-0/
Crier Recruiting Corner – Introducing 2026 G Jermel Thomas – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/05/27/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-2026-new-york-pg-jermel-thomas/
Peteris Pinnis Commits to Providence: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/05/13/friars-add-latvian-big-pinnis-to-2024-2025/
Duncan Powell Flips to Providence: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/04/21/duncan-powell-flips-commitment-from-georgetown-to-providence/
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/