Providence Recruiting Update: Recruiting Miss, Transfer News, New Offers and Interest

Providence has been actively pursuing big men since Paschal Chukwu announced he was transferring out of Friartown for a change of scenery. That news broke a little over 30 days ago. The Friar staff has done a lot in those 30-plus days, including adding veteran assistant Jeff Battle to replace the vacant spot left by Bob Simon’s departure to Alabama. They also added some beef to the frontcourt in 2015 big man Quadree Smith who committed to Ed Cooley and the Friars about 2 weeks ago. There was a recent miss in the class of 2015, news on the transfer wire, new offers being handed out and new interest being expressed.

Reyes to Boston College

JC Reyes would have been a nice complement to Smith in the 2015-16 frontcourt because he has the length that Smith lacks, while Smith has the girth that Reyes lacks. I thought that between the two of them they could have taken a solid chunk of the minutes at the center position to allow Ben Bentil to play his more suitable position of power forward. While Bentil still would have likely had to pitch in at the 5 in that scenario its all a mute point now with Reyes committing to Boston College on Thursday last week. I can understand why some fans would look at “losing” a recruit to the lowly Eagles as another reason that Cooley and Co. have lost their mojo on the recruiting trail but I’m still not worried enough to declare a state of emergency in Friartown.

The reality on Reyes is that he would have likely been more of a long-term project at Providence and his minutes may have fluctuated a bit after Cooley got another chance to bring in big men in the classes of 2016 and 2017, not to mention the transfer market. It still hurts the Friars that he didn’t choose PC but the pain is likely more in the short term of the 2015-16 season. It remains to be seen if Cooley will continue to pursue another big man for next season but if he does then my money is on the international market.

Kyle Washington to Visit

Jon Rothstein reported that NC State transfer Kyle Washington will visit Providence on Thursday and Friday this week. The visit will be in spite of that fact that Cooley is in Greece with the USA Basketball U19 team until July 6th. John Rooke wrote in his weekly column last Friday that Washington may be down to Cincinnati and Providence. Washington also visited Marquette earlier this month.

While this move won’t help on the court in 2015-16, Washington will be able to practice with the team during his mandatory redshirt year and he would have two years of eligibility remaining after that to suit up in a Friar uniform. At 6’9 he would provide another big body on a roster that seemingly has tilted towards an abundance of guards and wings.

New Offers and Interest

Christian David

• Class of 2017
• Vermont Academy
• Hometown: Milton, Canada
• Shooting Guard
• 6’5 185 lbs
• AAU Team: S-Elite

David is a Canadian of Filipino descent who was ranked the #1 player in Canada in the class of 2017 by NorthpoleHoops.com as recently as September 2014. He will be making his USA prep school debut this upcoming year as he has transferred to Vermont Academy where he will pair with another guard that Providence is recruiting in Bruce Brown. He got a June 15th call from the Friars as well as from Harvard, Illinois, Michigan, Penn State and Oregon.

Nate Pierre-Louis

• Class of 2017
• St. Benedict’s Prep
• Hometown: Plainfield, NJ
• Point Guard
• 6’3 170 lbs
• AAU Team: Sports U

Pierre-Louis got his first offer in the summer before 7th grade from Seton Hall. Since then he has grown physically from 5’4 to 6’3, garnered plenty of other offers and attention and transferred high schools. He went from St. Peter’s to St. Benedict’s after his freshman season and is now paired up with another Providence target in 2017 in Trevon Duval. He runs with Sports U on the Under Armour Association circuit and averaged 10.6 points/game, including a 23 point outburst in the team’s first game in April. Some of his recent offers include Creighton, Dayton, Rhode Island, Saint Louis, St. John’s and Temple. He also has offers from the likes of Cincinnati, Connecticut, Florida State, Miami, SMU and others.

Breein Tyree

• Class of 2016
• St. Joseph’s
• Hometown: Somerset, NJ
• Point Guard
• 6’2 185 lbs
• AAU Team: Sports U

Tyree also runs with Sports U on the Under Armour Association circuit. He averaged 8.3 points/game, including a season-high 17 points in the team’s final game. He went 5/10 from beyond the arc in the team’s 10-point win over DC Premier and shot 39% from 3-point range on the UAA season. Tyree is talented athlete and grew up playing basketball, soccer and lacrosse, according to an interview with Wu of TheBasketballDiary.com. He even played football last year at St. Joe’s, but he will play soccer next fall there. His cousin is former New York Giants receiver David Tyree. His other offers include Creighton, Davidson, Holy Cross, Iowa State, Kansas State, La Salle, LIU-Brooklyn, Loyola, Massachusetts, Monmouth, Northwestern, Providence, Richmond, Saint Joseph’s, San Jose State, St. Peters, Towson and USC.

Isaiah Whaley

• Class of 2017
• Ashbrook HS
• Hometown: Gastonia, NC
• Power Forward
• 6’9 200 lbs
• AAU Team: Team Loaded

Interest in Whaley was first reported by Rick Lewis of PhenomHoopReport.com. His nickname is “pork chop” but you might not know it by looking at his slender 200 lb frame. The 6’9 Whaley was player of the year in the Big South 3A conference where he led his team to a share of the Big South conference title and a 3A state runner-up. He averaged 17.5 points/game, 9.1 rebounds/game and 4.7 blocks/game on the way to a 23-4 record. Whaley claims offers from Appalachian State, Charlotte, East Carolina, Georgia, Middle Tennessee, Towson, Virginia Tech and Western Carolina in addition to the interest from the Friars. Expect to see more names from North Carolina and the surrounding areas now that Jeff Battle is aboard the Friar staff.

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Mike Hopkins

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