Player Preview Series: The Dynamic Oswin Erhunmwunse Will Bring to Providence From Day One
Player Preview Series: The Dynamic Oswin Erhunmwunse Will Bring to Providence From Day One
"I just loved it – the atmosphere, the fanbase and the way they supported the team. I just wanted that to be me one day, so that’s why I decided to embrace Providence and Rhode Island as my own."
It doesn’t take a trained eye to see it.
The highlights of Oswin Erhunmwunse are one thing — the swats out of bounds, hammering down lobs from the top of the square, and of course, what became his trademark at the prep and AAU level: snatching opponents’ shots out of midair — but it’s another thing entirely watching him in person.
From the layup line to his domination in the paint, Oswin’s combination of athleticism and coordination can be mesmerizing at times, and it caught the eye of one of the greatest centers in NBA history this past summer.
At the NBA Top 100 Camp, Oswin played alongside the son of Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, and it didn’t take long for the legend to take notice. After watching Oswin patrol the paint, Olajuwon, a fellow Nigerian, asked Oswin’s coaches if he could meet the future Friar.
“That’s someone I idolized when I was growing up. He’s one of the greatest bigs to ever play the game. After my first two games he wanted to show me a couple of moves,” Oswin explained. “It was a great honor to be able to work with one of the greatest players at my position ever to play the game. We exchanged contact information and still keep in touch today.”
The son of a pastor, Oswin didn’t grow up dreaming of playing in the NBA, or any professional sport for that matter. He was content to play pickup soccer with his friends, but at the prodding of his uncle he gave basketball a shot, later made his way to the United States, and became one of the best shot blockers in the nation in the process.
Like Olajuwon, and players of his era, there’s an old school element to Oswin’s game. No matter how spectacular his blocks and finishes look, they don’t elicit much of a response from the big man — no matter how wild the rest of the gym is going at the moment.
Oswin reclassified in the spring and enrolled at Providence over the summer. He steps into an ideal role as a freshman, as part of a triple-headed monster at center in which he’ll be asked to provide rim protection, rebounding, and finishing in the paint.
“It’s hard to describe how well he can protect the rim, block shots, and go get it off the glass and finish,” Friar assistant Dennis Felton said of Oswin on the Friar Podcast this summer. “Most of his finishes are dunks because he just has that rare ability.”
“He’s probably the best shot-blocking freshman in the country,” fellow assistant Matt Palumbo added.
Palumbo estimated that the 6’10 Oswin’s vertical leap must be pushing 40 inches, but explained what makes him unique as an athlete: “A lot of guys can really jump, but not a lot of guys have that level of athleticism. They don’t have the timing. He has really good timing. When he’s reading a defensive play, he knows when to go and put it on the glass. On offensive rebounds, he knows when to jump. On lobs he doesn’t have a hard time getting his feet together; he can just see the ball, go up, and get it. A lot of guys who are really athletic, who can jump, can’t put it all together.”
Oswin started to put it together over the past two years playing for BABC and Team New England on different grassroots circuits, and at Putnam Science, where he was a critical member of a prep national championship team in 2023 and helped them return to the finals a year later.
He missed the first two months of last season at Putnam Science recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, and he split minutes at center playing alongside his close friend Ben Ahmed — with Oswin serving as the dominant defensive presence, while Ahmed was a punishing back-to-the-basket scorer.
Oswin closed the season at Putnam Science with averages of 9.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks per game, but it was clear to anyone who followed him from his return in January through the end of the season in March how much better he felt physically by season’s end.
Oswin’s game really took off this spring and summer. He averaged 12.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game against the nation’s best players at the Top 100 Camp, and was terrific for BABC. Opponents shot just 1-17 when isolating against him in Adidas play, while his 39 blocks were over 20 more than his next closest teammate (Ahmed with 18).
Oswin says he has learned a lot about patience over the past year, taking it slow in his recovery from shoulder surgery and in waiting to hit the court at Providence’s Amica Mutual Pavilion.
The child who had to be nudged onto the basketball court can hardly contain his excitement about stepping on the floor in another month.
He fell in love with Friartown soon after moving from Nigeria to Rhode Island. His proximity to campus and downtown Providence made him a fixture at PC games both before and after he committed to Kim English.
“I just loved it — the atmosphere, the fanbase and the way they supported the team. I just wanted that to be me one day, so that’s why I decided to embrace Providence and Rhode Island as my own.”
Oswin noted he appreciated the staff’s commitment to him as he worked his way back from surgery, coming to open gyms and games, even when he wasn’t playing. “That just showed loyalty, which goes a long way,” he said.
“He’s an exciting player to coach,” Felton said when asked about Oswin’s early participation in practice. “He’s been every bit as exciting to coach as we anticipated.”
Oswin will bring a dynamic not seen in Providence since Carson Desrosiers and Paschal Chukwu left the program in 2015. The Friars have been without a rim protector for the better part of a decade, and in Oswin they have a center who isn’t just a shot blocker, but one who can seemingly say to opponents, “Go ahead, I can wait,” as he suspends in the air in anticipation of shots being released.
Still somewhat lean, physicality will certainly be an adjustment for Oswin this season. He credits teammates Christ Essandoko and Anton Bonke (both seven footers that weigh in over 270 pounds) with helping him learn how to adjust to the strength it takes to play at this level.
Offensively, Oswin’s impact will come as a big-time lob finisher and on the offensive glass. “I think back to a year ago, his touch has improved a lot since then. He’s really finishing through contact now, finishing difficult plays at the rim,” Palumbo said.
“He’s going to really stretch the spacing of our team with his verticality. Everybody understands spacing the floor, but when you have a guy who plays as high above the rim as he does, as well as he does — that vertical space provides more space for everybody. It just takes a lot to keep him from getting his hands on lobs and bringing it home with his good hands and good feel,” Felton shared.
It’s hard to imagine Oswin won’t have an impact during his freshman season. He’s just too gifted — both athletically and with his innate timing for shot blocking — and he should make his presence felt, despite being such a young big man in the oldest era of college basketball.
He has the potential to give Providence a dramatically different look at center this season, and he sounds ready to do so from the jump.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. We’re not going to disappoint. We’re not going to disappoint at all.”
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Hope we can keep him for four years!!!