Providence Makes Top 4 for Shamorie Ponds

Providence is looking for a point guard to replace Kris Dunn who is likely headed to the NBA after the 2015-16 season. The Friar coaching staff has been targeting a few top lead guards in the class of 2016 and on Sunday night they made the cut for Shamorie Ponds. Ponds announced his final 4 schools via his Twitter account:

https://twitter.com/shamoriep/status/628008337590738945

The ESPN scouting report calls Ponds “a left-handed combo-guard who impacts the game with his scoring and passing.” The scouting report continues, “he has a great burst off the dribble and he changes speeds very well. The biggest strength of his game is his shooting prowess. He can knock in jump shots out to 23-feet and his release is quick and smooth. He is most effective off the catch, but he can also hit shots off the dribble. He advances the ball well in transition and in the half court set he understands angles while feeding the post.” The scouting report sums it up by saying that “Ponds is a slick lefty that has the scoring and facilitating game that compares favorably to former NBA standout Nick Van Exel.”

He is ranked 67th in the class of 2016 by 247sports.com’s composite national ranking. This announcement comes less than 2 weeks after top-60 point guard Tony Carr included Providence is his top 5 schools. The Friars have a number of young players currently on their roster that have various strengths at the guard positions. Ponds has excellent shooting ability and can be a playmaker with the ball in his hands. Ed Cooley has discussed playing all kinds of different combinations of guards when the potential existed for having Dunn, Brandon Austin and Ricky Ledo on the court all at the same time. I would expect Ponds to schedule official visits to all 4 of his top schools in the near future. He is currently on an official visit to Creighton that began on Saturday.

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Mike Hopkins

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