While the transfer portal additions received the vast majority of the offseason publicity, the biggest win of the entire offseason was undoubtedly (in my mind) getting Oswin Erhunmwunse to stay in Friartown for his sophomore year. While there weren’t serious concerns about him leaving, you must assume that every player every offseason is entertaining other offers to increase their NIL payment. It’s good business and a sound practice for the player, honestly.
Thus, the retainment of Oswin may have been the biggest personnel win across the entire roster, as I am not sure there is a player on the Friar’s roster who has the upside, ceiling, and importance to the roster that the sophomore big man from Nigeria does. It was imperative to Kim English and staff that Oswin stayed in Friartown if they want to make the NCAA Tournament this year.
We break down his freshman year and expectations for sophomore season below.
In just his freshman year, he earned All-Freshman honors in the Big East and went toe-to-toe with first round draft pick Thomas Sorber in the discussion as best freshman big in the entire conference. I’d give the nod to Sorber, who had a more complete game, but I do think Oswin’s ceiling is higher. Oswin was the lone bright spot in an underwhelming Friar frontcourt. Oswin led the Friars in rebounds and blocks per game at 5.6 rebounds/game and 1.6 blocks/game. He was also second on the team in field goal percentage behind Anton Bonke, where Oswin was 72.3% from the floor. Like most young bigs, he struggled from the charity stripe, going an abysmal 47.5% from the line.
The stat lines above were good for 14th in the conference in rebounds/game and 2nd in the Big East in blocks per game behind Ryan Kalkbrenner. The thing that should have Friar fans incredibly optimistic is that Kalkbrenner averaged 2.7 blocks on 34.4 minutes, while Oswin averaged 1.6 blocks on 20 minutes a game. If you extrapolate that out per 40 minutes, Oswin would have averaged 3.2 blocks a game while Kalkbrenner would average 3.07 blocks a game.
Oswin has the potential to run away with Defensive Player of the Year now that Kalkbrenner has left school after his 9th year in Creighton. The only thing holding Oswin back is his ability to stay on the court. Despite all of the team leading stats, he was only 5th on the team in minutes played. For a player of his caliber, along with the lack of options behind him at the 5 position last year, you would expect that he would have played 30 minutes. I think his inexperience at the collegiate level led to a lot of silly and sloppy fouls last year that prevented him from playing extended minutes. I expect this issue to be remedied, and the goal of both Oswin and the staff should be for him to play 25-28 minutes a game. They need him to be playing that much.
Another year of offseason development and strength and conditioning should transform Oswin’s body from slender and lean to somebody a bit more twitchy and bulked up while retaining his otherwordly athleticism.
Keys to a Successful Season
- The ability to stay on the court without foul trouble for 25 + minutes. I do have faith that Hargrove can hold down the fort for 10-15 minutes, but my obvious preference would be for Oswin to get the bulk of the minutes. We can’t have him in consistent foul trouble and only playing 50% of the game minutes again.
- Anchor the frontcourt defensively and be a complete rim protector. He should be known nationally as one of the best shot blockers. He can cover up a lot of defensive warts with his athleticism and recovery skills.
- Develop some semblance of half court post moves to expand offensive repertoire. I’m not expecting Hakeem in the post, but it’d be nice to see Oswin develop a few post moves so we can throw it down into him on some half court sets.
- Don’t be a liability in end of game situations by improving his percentage from the free throw line. He needs to be a 60% plus free throw shooter this year because we can’t afford to sub him out because teams purposely foul him to send him to the line.
- Set a proper screen! I think Oswin was called for a moving or illegal screen every game. This was a double whammy as Providence lost an offensive possession, and Oswin incurred a foul. While Oswin is to blame here, it’s also on the guard to allow Oswin to get set and make the pick.
Expected Minutes Per Game – 25 – 28 minutes per game.
Summary
There are a lot of quality big men in this conference: Tarris Reed, Zuby Ejifor, Iowa transfer Owen Freeman, etc. but I do think Oswin has a chance to push for First Team All Big East. I genuinely believe that.
I’d personally be shocked if he isn’t a First or Second team All Big East player this year, and I don’t think that is necessarily stepping out on a ledge with this opinion. Oswin should lead the league in blocks/game, be Top 5 in the conference in rebounds/game, and be a 12-15 points per game scorer due to his rim running and lob threat ability. The sky is the limit for Oswin, and the team should be built around his skillset.
While Oswin’s offensive game isn’t quite developed, it wouldn’t shock me if this is his last year in Friartown. His athleticism on both ends is rare, and NBA teams will bet on developing Oswin’s offensive game. You can’t teach his innate traits he possesses, and those traits will get you drafted.
Oswin may be one of the best kept secret in all of college basketball nationally, but Providence insiders are ready for this kid to take off. I always hesitate to make these bold proclamations ahead of the season, but I don’t see a scenario where Oswin doesn’t explode onto the national scene in his sophomore season. He’s that rare of an athlete and that special of a talent. Just stay out of foul trouble, please!
Go Friars.
Providence Crier Player Preview
Cole Hargrove – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/10/02/providence-crier-player-preview-cole-hargrove-the-solution-to-pcs-frontcourt-depth-woes/
Ryan Mela – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/09/27/providence-crier-player-preview-ryan-mela-season-2-encore/
Daquan Davis – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/09/29/providence-crier-player-preview-daquan-davis-the-defensive-dynamo/
Jason Edwards – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2025/10/01/providence-crier-player-preview-series-second-time-is-a-charm-for-jason-edwards-and-the-friars/
BOC- great article on Oswin. I hope you are right about him this season. My biggest concern is his ability to stay out of foul trouble. If he can, then the sky is the limit. But as I always say you can’t tell until he starts play in Big East games. Looking forward to our first game of the season on 10/19. To tell you the truth I am not thrilled with the non conference teams we will play due to the importance of S.O.S. in the selection process for the Big Dance with the exception of games in the Rady’s Children Invitational. Kim English has to remember that if we are beating any team by a wide margin he has to keep his foot on the gas. Big wins count on Selecton Sunday. Go Friars!