Providence is on a heater with landing several commitments over the past week, and PC is looking to close on Northwestern lead guard Jayden Reid as the next Shark sighting.
Hodgson and Staff have done an elite job of building out their wing with additions of Byrd, Vanterpool, Sabol, and Pate, while retaining Mela, and they yesterday added their first frontcourt player in Yale center Samson Aletan. I’d look to see Providence add another true center to the roster and a utility frontcourt player like a Jerald Colonel to have three game ready bodies in the frontcourt.
Now, the glaring gap in the roster is a true point guard. Gavin Hightower was a fantastic addition, as I think he’s going to be a first off the bench guard, but it would be a lot to ask a true sophomore who only played 10 minutes a game last year in the American to come in and run the show for a Big East squad. Hodgson needs to add a veteran lead guard to run point for this roster, and Jayden Reid just may be the guy.
We break down his game below.
Career Stats
Reid has played 98 career games in his college career, starting 64 games. If Hodgson is looking for an experienced and veteran lead guard, he found one in Reid who played two seasons at USF (no overlap with Hodgson, purely coincidence) and one in the Big 10 at Northwestern. More important, he found his facilitator at lead guard.
Reid started 28 of 34 games at Northwestern last year, averaging 10 points, 5 assists, and 1.9 turnovers. Reid was the clear leader of the Northwestern team, leading said team in assists with the next player a familiar name in Jake West at 2.8 assists per game.
While the 5 assists a game are impressive in and of itself, he had a few games that really show his value as a table setter. There were 3 games where he had at least 9 assists, 6 games with at least 8 assists, and FOURTEEN games with at least 6 assists.
This is all to say Reid can also fill it up offensively, although I don’t think he’ll be brought to Friartown to do that. There were 7 games where he totaled at least 17 points, with 3 games at least scoring 20. He had a season high 28 against Final Four team Illinois.
Reid was second on the team in minutes played at 25.8 minutes a game, showing an ability to run the show for a long duration without getting into foul trouble.
The team’s steal totals were underwhelming, but he did lead the team in steals per game at 1.0 steals.
Reid was efficient from the foul line, shooting 82%.
Fit with Providence
Reid would be brought in to start at the 1 spot and be facilitator for the Friars. He would run the show, with hopefully a competition in the summer and preseason with Gavin Hightower. The assumption would be he wins out that battle and is your starting PG.
Reid can also be a mentor to Hightower. Both aren’t the tallest of guards, and Reid can show him the ropes before handing over lead guard duties to Hightower in 2027-2028.
I’ve seen mixed reviews on Reid. I think the concerns are due to his size and maybe some PTSD with Jason Edwards. To be clear, they are two entirely different players. Edwards was instant offense, a ready made scorer. Reid can score, but his best traits are running the offense as train conductor. They are two different players.
While his size is a concern when playing in the Big East, I take solace in knowing he played point in the Big 10, which is a juggernaut of a league. I also am not as concerned because Hodgson brought in defensive stoppers all over the roster. Byrd, Vanterpool, and Aletan are defensive first players that can help clean up any mistakes, and Pate has the measurable to become a plus defender if he dedicates himself. Lastly, it’s not as if Reid is a traffic cone. He’ll get exposed if he matches up against a Demary, sure, but Reid also had 8 games where he had at least 2 steals. He can play defense.
Summary
Providence right now has two needs: a veteran point guard to run the show and another 5 man to compete with Aletan for the starting job. If Hodgson can land Reid, he checks off a massive need for the 2026 Friars.
We saw it last year. Providence went into the season thinking they could make combo guards or shooting guards run point, and they simply couldn’t. The offense was a mess at times because it didn’t have somebody who could take charge, lead, and run the show. Even if Providence doesn’t land Reid, I legitimately think they are in a better place in 2026-2027 with Hightower than they were all of 2025-2026. Adding Reid ensures that the lead guard spot wouldn’t be a weakness, and you could argue it may become a strength.
We will keep you updated on this recruitment.
Go Friars!