Providence Among the Final Four for Top Transfer Guard Taran Armstrong
Joe Tipton of On3.com reported Friday night that Providence is one of four schools still in the running for Taran Armstrong, a creative passing point guard out of Burnie, Australia.
Unsurprisingly, the competition will be stiff for Armstrong, as Gonzaga, Xavier, and Creighton are also in the running. When Armstrong’s name first appeared on the transfer portal, it was only natural for Friar fans to wonder if new assistant coach Nate Tomlinson (an Australia native who is coming over from Kim English’s staff at George Mason) had any ties to Armstrong. Tomlinson is the only coach outside of Armstrong’s current school (California Baptist) that Armstrong had been following on Twitter.
The 6’5 guard out of Tasmania burst onto the college basketball scene as a freshman in 2021-22, kicking off his career with 55 points and 41 assists in his first four games. In just his fourth career game, Armstrong notched a 16-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound triple double against San Jose State.
He was named WAC Freshman of the Year in 2022, after a season in which he finished fifth in the nation in assists per game. He averaged 11.3 points, 5.0 assists, and 4.5 rebounds per game as a freshman, despite missing seven games due to an illness.
Beyond the numbers, the timing and flair with which Armstrong found teammates made him one of the hottest mid-major names in the country after his freshman season.
Armstrong played off the ball at the NBA Global Academy in Australia, playing alongside a future NBA lottery pick in Josh Giddey. The NBA Global Academy is producing all sorts of NBA and high major talent in recent seasons.
Armstrong’s sophomore season played out much like his freshman year — 10.9 points, 5.6 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game, while he earned 2nd Team All WAC honors.
He obviously has great size for a point guard — the type of size that would allow him to play alongside Jayden Pierre, or run a bigger unit for the Friars. His passing ability and style would set the AMP on fire. There simply aren’t many players who makes the types of passes he does.
Efficiency will be the biggest question for Armstrong as he steps up to the high major level. He is a career 48% shooter from two-point range, but hovers around 30% from three. He also turned the ball over 3.4 times per game in 2022-23. On a Friar roster lacking in true shooters, the hope would be that he makes a leap with his own jumper, or is so creative that he gets his teammates great looks with consistency.
Armstrong shot a respectable 43% on runners last season, and 34% on catch and shoot opportunities. He was at 26% on jumpers off the dribble.
There is no timetable set for when he will announce his next destination.
