Providence’s offense will have a different dimension in 2023-24 with Josh Oduro in the lineup. Oduro, who is set to play center for the Friars this season, dished out a career high 86 assists last season at George Mason. That number would have been the second best of any PC player last season, trailing only Jared Bynum’s 125.
When Oduro committed to Providence, much was made of his ability to score in the post — and for good reason. He led the Atlantic-10 in scoring two seasons ago (17.7 ppg), and averaged over 15 last year, while nearly doubling his assist total (46 to 86).
The Friars simply haven’t had many big men with his passing ability of late. Over the past 20 years, only Geoff McDermott, Ryan Gomes, and Tuukka Kotti had 80 or more assists in a season. For the sake of this exercise, I considered Alpha Diallo more of a wing, rather than a power forward.
McDermott’s passing ability has gone overlooked historically — likely in part due to his teams never reaching the NCAA Tournament, and also because he was next in line after the revered Gomes headed off to the NBA. McDermott had two seasons with over 150 assists (151 and 159 his final two seasons in black and white).
The only other Friar bigs with 80+ assists in a season over the past 20 years were Gomes (100 as a senior), and Tuukka Kotti (94). On a different team (and different time), the 6’9 Kotti could have played on the wing due to his skill set, but Providence used him almost exclusively as a power forward who could shift over to center.
Oduro’s progression as a passer has been impressive. His assists totals went from 10 as a freshman, to 27 as a sophomore, to 46 his junior year, and then 86 last season. It isn’t just his assist totals that were impressive, but his ability to pass out of double teams, the timing, and his ability to lead shooters into great looks that makes him a threat.
This four-minute reel of his best passes from last season demonstrates that ability.