For those of you who joined our newsletter, or started subscribing to Friar Basketball during the 2022-23 season, one thing we do throughout the offseason is share clips from a variety of games of the incoming transfers.
These videos can vary from highlights of their best games, to longer reels that show the good, the bad, and everything in-between. Those of you who were following the site two summers ago will recall seeing videos of Al Durham and Justin Minaya throughout their careers, and we also had a lot on Devin Carter, Clifton Moore, and Noah Locke last spring and summer.
Essentially, the goal is to help Friar fans get as familiar as possible with the players coming in via the portal. We’ll start this in April and keep it going through August.
With the news of Josh Oduro transferring from George Mason to Providence breaking this week, we start our offseason videos with a look at when he went for 26 points and 15 boards in a 63-62 loss at St. Louis in January.
I started with this game for a number of reasons: Oduro had a massive stat line, he did so against an opponent Providence saw last season, and St. Louis features big men that have played at the high major level. Francis Okoro transferred in from Oregon, while Jake Forrester spent time at both Indiana and Temple.
George Mason and St. Louis entered this game with matching 2-1 records in A-10 play. Behind Oduro’s huge day, Mason led 62-53 with 2:21 left, but got out-scored 10-0 to close the game in a painful 63-62 loss. It was somewhat reminiscent of when PC blew a 13-point lead against Travis Ford’s club in November.
This was a St. Louis team that didn’t quite meet expectations in 2022-23, but still finished 21-12 overall, 12-6 in the conference, and 15-3 at home.
Oduro’s footwork, patience, and ball handling were all on display in this one, as he badly out-played Okoro (5 points, 3 boards) and Forrester (7/4).
Highlights: Josh Oduro Goes for 26/15 at St. Louis