When I last posted a recruiting update 7 days ago it was on the heels of Providence hosting their annual Late Night Madness festivities. The Friars had top big man target Sedee Keita in town for his official visit that weekend and made their big push to get the Delaware native to commit before leaving campus. That big push didn’t yield a commitment and soon after Keita left Friartown a bevy of new names emerged with Providence interest or offers. The spigot of new names is still open. Adam Finkelstein reported on Tuesday that Keita has transferred back down to 22ft Academy — the South Carolina school he attended last year prior to coming back to New England at Putnam Science Academy.
ESPN and Scout.com released their updated recruit rankings for the class of 2016 after the summer grassroots season and now it’s time for Rivals to follow suit. ESPN and Scout had differing views on most of the Providence recruits within their Top 100’s. Rivals’ rankings mirror those of ESPN with Wenyen Gabriel jumping from the 80’s to 17. There is also a Friar recruit who is visiting Providence in October that is making his debut in Rivals’ Top 150 in Maliek White and Kevin Marfo rounds out the Top 150 in the final slot. Providence is visiting him at his school on September 9th.
With Providence set to get visits from a pair of guards in Shamorie Ponds and Maliek White and a power forward in JJ Matthews this poll question wonders which position do the Friar Faithful think is more critical to bring in during the class of 2016 recruiting cycle? Vote below and explain your vote in the comments section:
With the grassroots season coming to a conclusion at the end of July ESPN has released their updated class of 2016 recruit rankings and there are a number of Providence recruiting targets that are in this latest version of ESPN’s Top 100. It’s no surprise who one of the biggest risers in the rankings is with Wenyen Gabriel jumping 60 spots from 83 to 23. ESPN’s Reggie Rankin also spotlighted Friar recruit JJ Matthews a couple of weeks ago as a player that raised his stock enough to possibly break into the Top 100 after the spring and summer. He apparently was on the cusp but not in the Top 100. Matthews is scheduled to visit Providence on October 3rd, along with River City Reign teammate Maliek White. The Big East also has gotten a solid haul already from the ESPN Top 100 in 2016.
Here are some details from ESPN’s latest Class of 2016 Top 100:
The Big Strick Classic is a basketball-junkie’s dream that takes place each summer after the live periods of July have come and gone. Players from all across the country will travel to NYC to take on the best that NYC has to offer. The 2015 version of the tournament — named in honor of the late NYC streetball legend John “Big Strick” Strickland — is the 5th annual and features a number of Providence recruits, as well as many top national recruits in the classes of 2016, 2017 and a few from 2018.
Providence fans will get a unique opportunity to see some of their top recruiting targets play live on national television on Sunday afternoon. The adidas Uprising Championships kicked off on Wednesday for the final live evaluation period of July and the Mass Rivals — the team that features Ed Cooley’s top target in Wenyen Gabriel — and Team Loaded VA were entered. They each advanced to the finals and ESPNU is airing the game at 6pm EDT. The two teams combine to showcase a dozen Friar targets. Here they are:
pcbb1917.com - Providence College Basketball 