Friar Friday News & Notes: David Duke Commitment Day Edition

Here are some Providence news and notes from the week, including David Duke commitment day, an Emmitt Holt update and more.

Duke to Commit Friday Evening

This column has been a place for updates and news that have happened over the last week, but I’ll lead off this Friday with something that hasn’t happened yet. 2018 Cushing Academy and Mass Rivals guard David Duke announced on Wednesday that he will commit Friday evening.

We learned later via Kevin McNamara at the Providence Journal that the announcement is expected to come via Duke’s social media accounts. The former Classical High School hero is down to the hometown Friars and Buzz Williams’ Virginia Tech Hokies. The steam picked up on 247Sports Crystal Ball page on Thursday with all but one previous Virginia Tech pick flipping to Providence and some new picks coming out of the clouds for the Friars. I’ve remained optimistic that Duke would end up in black and white. We’ll see if that comes to fruition for the athletic guard who turned 18 on Friday.

Here are some highlights from Duke’s state playoff run with Classical in 2016 while we wait for the announcement:

Emmitt Holt Update

Providence released a statement at the beginning of October that stated Emmitt Holt “has had abdominal issues. It has not been determined how long Holt will be out of the team’s lineup.” The Friars had a media availability earlier this week and Cooley gave reporters an update on Holt:

Rumors have been flying about the severity of Holt’s medical issue and the potential that he will miss the entire season. For now, that’s all speculation until something more concrete is announced. Get well, Emmitt.

Coverage from PC Media Availability

As I mentioned above, Cooley and some players spoke with the media on Tuesday. Here is a bevy of sources that were there:

ABC6 – Providence, RI and New Bedford, MA News, Weather

Friarbasketball.com – Craig Leighton – Going 1:1 with Rodney Bullock, Jalen Lindsey

Friarbasketball.com – Kevin Farrahar – Jalen Lindsey Found His Way at PC

Turnto10.com – Joe Kayata – Back to work for PC Friars

Kyron Cartwright Getting National Love

The Providence senior was named to two top point guard lists this week. CBSSports.com listed Cartwright as the 6th-best point guard in the nation, while The Athletic’s Fieldhouse site (sidenote, The Athletic is worth the money) listed Cartwright 18th. Both articles are worth your time to read. In addition to the national love, Kevin Farrahar of Friarbasketball.com released a highlight tape of Cartwright’s junior season this week:

Makai Ashton-Langford Getting Big East Love

Cartwright’s backcourt mate also received some love this week when Scout.com listed Makai Ashton-Langford #2 on their “Top Five Big East Basketball Impact Freshmen” list. Based on my reading of the list, it seems like the only reason they selected Georgetown freshman Jamarko Pickett is that he’s expected to play more for a bad Hoya team.

Kevin McNamara on Big East Shootaround

McNamara and Jon Nyatawa from the Omaha World-Herald appeared on this week’s edition of the Big East Shootaround. They discussed some interesting topics across the league:

You can also hear McNamara and Bill Koch on the latest episode of the Pick & Pop College Hoops podcast out earlier in the week.

Shammgod Featured in Bleacher Report Doc

A very cool video was released by Bleacher Report this week that discussed God Shammgod’s famous dribbling moved named after him. It’s worth the 11+ minutes and is a very cool nod to a Friar legend.

2018 Commit Nichols MVP of Big Shots Top 100

Providence commit Jimmy Nichols defended his crown at the Big Shots Top 100 event that was two weeks ago by averaging 32 points/game to be named MVP of the event for the second straight season. ESPN’s Paul Biancardi attended the event and shared some thoughts on Nichols:

Late Night Madness Saturday Night

Providence’s annual Late Night Madness festivities will be held on Saturday night with the initial portion taking place in Alumni Hall with Doris Burke hosting for the second straight year. After the basketball portion ends there will be a concert held in Peterson Rec Center featuring Lil Uzi Vert. No word yet whether Yurview (formerly Cox) will have a live stream available but the Providence social media accounts will be active and covering the event. I’m gathering a list of recruits who will be in attendance, so keep an eye out for a separate post about that.

Update on Ruane Friar Development Center

The final thing for this week’s Friar Friday News & Notes is a quick look at the progress being made on the construction of the Ruane Friar Development Center that is scheduled to open in August or September of 2018. Kevin McNamara tweeted a picture of the site as he walked by to attend Providence’s media availability on Tuesday:

Want to get a live look at the construction? Providence has a live webcam set up here.

Follow me on Twitter @pcbb1917

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