Friar Basketball Newsletter: Retooling in a hurry, Providence picks up three critical players from the transfer portal in a span of three days
Any question about whether or not Ed Cooley and his staff would be able to seize on the momentum from an outstanding 2021-22 season were all but squashed this weekend, as Providence hit the transfer portal hard and picked up three critical commitments.
Friday night brought the commitment of sharpshooting Noah Locke, a player who has hit nearly 300 three pointers between three years at Florida, and a season spent in Louisville. Locke has a long history with Cooley and Providence, having attended the school’s Elite Camp (and earning a scholarship) way back in 2016.
You can read all about Locke’s journey from a high school star in Maryland to one of the best deep shooters in the country here. Locke was a 40% three point shooter in his three years at Florida, with solid defensive metrics as well.
Subscribers can take a look behind the numbers of Locke, in an article that details his offensive strengths and how his game has evolved over the past four years. This article includes shot charts and deep dive analytics from his career.
The Locke news was just the beginning of a tremendous week for the Friars. On Sunday, Providence landed two more players from the transfer portal in La Salle big man Clifton Moore and South Carolina shooting guard Devin Carter.
Moore is a former classmate of Al Durham’s at Indiana, who made his way to La Salle by transferring closer to home after his sophomore year. His game flourished on both sides of the ball this past season, but what will likely excite PC fans most is that he ranked in the top 15 in the country in blocked shots. Subscribers can read about Moore, specifically how he did his damage offensively last year, and why he is a great fit for the Friars. Like Locke, Moore is a graduate transfer with one year of eligibility remaining.
Shortly after news of Moore’s commitment broke, South Carolina transfer Devin Carter pledged to PC. Carter was a four star recruit coming out of Brewster Academy, and was named to the SEC’s All Freshman team last year. The son of long-time NBA player Anthony Carter, Devin flourishes when taking the ball to the bucket. He gets to the free throw line – at an elite level. The numbers behind his free throw attempts are beyond impressive.
Furthermore, we have two other articles that we think you’ll really enjoy. After over 600 of you voted in our year-end fan survey, we pulled together data behind the voting. Additionally, Craig Leighton wrote a really fun article in which he takes a shot at ranking some of the all-time Friars in a variety of categories – ranging from best shooters, top transfers, elite rebounders, and so on.
The excitement around this program really hasn’t slowed since the season ended, and we are looking forward to continuing to bring you more on all of the latest throughout the offseason.
Great stuff on such a quick turnaround.