Big Mystery: Cheickna Dembele No Longer Unknown

Providence has been desperately chasing big men recruits since Paschal Chukwu transferred to Syracuse in May 2015 and Alex Owens failed to qualify that later summer. Ben Bentil has been forced to slide over the the center spot this season with little behind him in the way of backup. Bentil has obviously had a tremendous sophomore campaign, but he has had struggles on the defensive side of the floor at times and Providence has been vulnerable to teams that attack the rim. Those teams are met with little to no resistance en route to a layup and that’s a big problem for Ed Cooley. The search for a big man in the class of 2016 has taken Providence all over the country and, lately, even into Canada. The latest name to surface is a new name to just about everyone in the basketball recruiting world: Cheickna Dembele.

Dembele hails from Mali in Africa and has only been in the United States since November of 2015. He plays for first-year program Scotland Performance Institute, located in Chambersburg, PA. This article from NextUpRecruits.com serves as a good introduction to the 6’10 big man who has played basketball for just 4 years. Dembele and SPI were recently in Rhode Island for the National Prep School Invitational held at Rhode Island College. That’s where Dembele’s name began to be mentioned by national recruiting analysts and offers and interest from high major programs quickly followed. Iowa State was the first to offer back on February 6th and since then, the offers and interest have been coming in like a waterfall. Charlotte, La Salle, Missouri, NC State, St. Joseph’s and Towson have also offered and schools like Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, Connecticut, Florida, Georgetown, Iowa, LSU, Maryland, Providence and others have expressed interest.

Corey Evans of HoopSeen.com reported on Twitter Thursday that Providence is expected to be at SPI on Sunday to watch Dembele. Evans also reported that NC State and Syracuse are also expected at the Pennsylvania school on Sunday. The competition is quickly heating up for someone who was unknown not too long ago. He certainly isn’t unknown now and figures to have plenty of high major coaches competing for his services.

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Mike Hopkins

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