Providence Recruiting Update: Any Big Men Out There?

Any big men out there?

That’s a question that is on the mind of many Providence fans. The coaching staff is trying to zero in on someone to replace the minutes Paschal Chukwu was going to get before he surprisingly announced his intention to transfer on May 18th. That late date has put Ed Cooley and his staff in a bind as it doesn’t give them a great deal of time to try to build a relationship with a quality player who can contribute from day 1.

There have been some graduate transfer names that have popped up only to fizzle away when they announce a commitment to another school. The latest name to be linked to the Friars was Eastern Illinois power forward Chris Olivier. Olivier was thinking about a visit to Friartown following the dead period that ended on May 29th but he never made it as he committed to Oklahoma State a little over a week after visiting the campus in Stillwater. Oklahoma State was the only visit he took.

So who is out there as June begins? Is there a serviceable 2015 big man? An uncommitted graduate transfer? A unknown foreigner?

Actually all 3 of those scenarios are in play for Cooley and his staff.

On the 2015 front John Carlos Reyes has been hearing from new Providence assistant Jeff Battle recently. Carlos Reyes has offers from Charlotte, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Kennesaw State, Middle Tennessee, Penn State, South Florida, Tennessee, Tulsa and Western Kentucky, according to VerbalCommits.com. The 6’10 center reclassified from 2014 to 2015 and was at Sound Doctrine Christian Academy this year. Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal tweeted Monday that Providence is expecting to get a visit from Carlos Reyes sometime this week.

On the graduate transfer market the pickings are getting a little slim and this has not been an area Providence has historically made hay. While bringing in someone to be a stop-gap for one season while Cooley and staff look at more talented big men in 2016 seems like an ideal scenario I’m just not sure that is going to be in the cards. Bringing in a player like Carlos Reyes seems more likely to me. I do think they can bring in Carlos Reyes and not have it be an issue for 2016 because big men — aside from the truly elite ones — aren’t usually ready in year 1 or even year 2 sometimes. Having someone who can play the Carson Desrosiers role of steady defender while a younger big grows and learns is something that could work out well.

Foreign big men are usually a mystery. One name that has emerged in recent weeks is that of Greek 7-footer Georgios Papagiannis. Papagiannis played one season — 2013-2014 — in the USA at Westtown School in Pennsylvania before heading back to Greece in the summer of 2014. He signed a contract with Panathinaikos of the Greek League and the Euroleague but maintains his amateur status because he signed an amateur athlete license. His contract has opt-out clauses for the summer of 2015 and 2016 should he decide to play college basketball in 2015-16 or go to the NBA Draft in 2016. During his time in the USA, Papagiannis played on the Nike EYBL circuit with Team Takeover and played in the 2013 Jordan Brand Classic International Game. Papagiannias also has experience with the Greek U16 National team. Papagiannias is a bit of a pipe dream because Providence is seemingly getting in a little late with him and he also hasn’t decided 100% that he will play college basketball in 2015-16.

There is also very likely a name or two that is a true mystery right now. The next most plausible scenario that I see playing out after bringing in a player in 2015 like Carlos Reyes is that a foreign player shows up at Providence that no one has ever heard of before like Tyree Chambers a season ago. Associate head coach Andre LaFleur has extensive connections in Germany so I would think that would be a logical place for this mystery man to come from if it were to happen.

The final option I’ll mention here is Kyle Washington. Washington can’t help in 2015-16 because he has to sit out that season, per NCAA transfer rules. However, Washington could help Providence down the road as an experienced big man for the seasons of 2016-17 and 2017-18. So far I’ve been told that Washington has only scheduled one visit and that is to Marquette beginning on June 5th. Providence made his list of 10 schools but there will be heavy competition, including from Big East schools Butler, Marquette and Xavier.

With two open scholarships to play with and Alex Owens‘ status in serious question I would expect that at least 1 big man is brought in before classes begin in September. Having Ben Bentil playing major minutes at the center position is not a scenario I’d be real comfortable with if I was Cooley. Carlos Reyes is scheduled to visit Providence this week as mentioned above so that is likely the first domino that has potential to fall in Providence’s direction. After that its anyone’s guess.

Follow me on Twitter @pcbb1917

About Author

Mike Hopkins

See author's posts