2024-25 Season Preview: The Frontcourt

3 newcomers in Oswin Erhunmwunse, Christ Essandoko and Anton Bonke headline the new and improved Providence Skyline

The season preview of the Friars rolls on with the big men. I broke down the 4 guards that will compromise the back court last week and the consensus there is that it’s a group that has significantly more talent and experience when compared to last season, a reality which should raise the floor of this year’s team to at least a top 4 finish in the Big East (the Friars finished 7th last season). While the guards will raise the floor, it’ll largely fall to the big men to determine just how high the ceiling can be for Kim English’s sophomore campaign in Friartown.

Of the four traditional bigs on the roster, none of them played a single minute for the Friars last season. As a matter of fact, only 1 of them, Christ Essandoko, played a minute of Division 1 basketball last season. Clearly this is not a group that is overflowing with experience, but they do have something that cannot be learned over time, size.

Providence’s most vulnerable spot last season was a lack of size (and 3 point shooting but I digress), so much so that Kim English called it out in a postgame presser saying “from a size perspective… we don’t look like a Big East team.” English identified a problem, and then got down to business fixing it, bringing in 7’2 Anton Bonke from the junior college ranks, 7’0 Christ Essandoko from St Joseph’s, and 6’10 Oswin Erhunmwunse from Putnam Science Academy. Add this trio to 6’10 redshirt freshman Eli Delaurier and all of a sudden the Friars have a roster with the size to matchup against any team in the country in the paint. Providence was a painfully average rebounding team last season, finishing 173rd in the country in rebounding margin. For reference, the two programs that competed in the national championship game, Purdue and UConn, finished 2nd and 5th in rebounding margin respectively.

Only time will tell if he brought in the right guys, and this is exclusively a results based business, but the ferocity with which English addressed his team’s primary issue from last season does have to count for something (at least in my book).

In fact, over the last 5 seasons Providence has almost always been criminally undersized. Josh Oduro, God love him, was only 6’9 and had to repeatedly matchup against guys (Donovan Clingan, Joel Soriano, Ryan Kalkbrenner) 3-4 inches and 20-30 pounds heavier. Ed Croswell, one of the most beloved Friars in recent memory, got every ounce of talent out of his 6’8 frame, but he was still just 6’8. The startling truth is that since the ‘18-19 season the Friars have had only 1 (one!) traditional big man who made significant positive contributions on the court and who also measured at bigger than 6’10. That of course was Nate Watson. It might be a stretch to ask any of the current four big men to replicate the production that Watson gave to the Program, but in the aggregate the Friars will be able to construct lineups and matchups that they literally have not been to form in more than a decade. Let’s break it down player by player.

Christ Essandoko:

2023-24 Season Stats: 25 games (14 starts), 21.1 minutes, 8.2 points (50.0% FG, 36.8% 3PT, 64.9% FT), 5.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.1 blocks, 2.0 turnovers per game

Outside of Bryce Hopkins’ health, I believe that the extent of Christ Essandoko’s emergence will be the biggest determining factor to how successful Kim English’s second season in Friartown will unfold.

Essandoko arrives in Friartown from St. Joseph’s where he had a successful freshman campaign despite battling multiple injuries. The 7-footer also admittedly arrived in Friartown for offseason workouts a bit out of shape and has worked his ass off to be able to carry the brunt of the frontcourt load this season.

The Friars have a Josh Oduro-sized hole to replace in their lineup this season, and I’d expect Essandoko to be given the most opportunities to fill that role early in the season. For a 7 footer he has an incredibly versatile game, with a modern inside-out game that will fit in well with Kim English’s preferred 4-out offensive system.

Christ Essandoko’s season will be a success if ______: He can match Josh Oduro’s production. While Essandoko does have a slightly different game from Oduro, I do think his bottomline production can (should, will) be quite similar. In 34 games (34 starts) last season, here are Oduro’s numbers:

30.2 minutes, 15.9 points (52.7% FG, 29.1% 3PT, 81.9% FT), 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 blocks, 2.1 turnovers per game

Given that Essandoko dealt with a turf toe injury for a majority of last season, I don’t think it’s a stretch to expect to see his production improve to mirror the impact Oduro had last season. In case you haven’t been pouring over film over Essandoko’s game this offseason, I’ve got you covered. While Oduro was certainly the superior passer, offensive rebounder and free throw shooter, Essandoko is a much better shot blocker and has the ability to effectively stretch defenses from beyond the 3 point line. Both are above average interior defenders, and I’d have to give an edge to Oduro in terms of his ability to finish around the basket.

Simply put, Essandoko is the better 3 point shooter (albeit on limited attempts) and shot blocker while Oduro probably had an edge everywhere else. However, last season was Oduro’s fifth in college basketball. This season will be Essandoko’s second. Additionally, Essandoko has an obvious athletic advantage that you just can’t teach standing at 7’0, 285 pounds. He is a physical specimen. The St. Joe’s transfer has some clear areas for development but that is quite literally what the coaching staff gets paid to do. If Essandoko can even replicate 80% of what Oduro gave the Program last year, Providence will have a realistic chance to win every time they take the court this season. Viva la Christ!

Oswin Erhunmwunse:

2023-24 Season Stats: N/A, previous season spent in high school

I’ve covered Oswin extensively this offseason, but I do believe in my heart of hearts that he is the rare freshman who will have a significant impact on winning. His game is not like that of a traditional, back-to-the-basket big man who often take a few years to develop into finished products (e.g., Adama Sanogo, Nate Watson, Joel Soriano). Erhunmwunse is a rim runner. He’ll be on the receiving end of dozens of ally-oops this season and has unique athleticism that will allow him to be an immediate impact player on the defensive end.

Will there be growing pains as there are with any freshman? Yes.

Should Kim English be overly reliant on Oswin especially at the start of the season? Probably not.

Do I believe that Oswin’s skill set is better suited to impact meaningful games than last year’s freshman phenom Garwey Dual? Yes.

Oswin Erhunmwunse’s season will be a success if ______: He finishes the season on the Big East All-Freshman Team. It’s always tough to predict how a freshman (a reclass at that) will adjust to the college game. For God Sake I thought Rich Barron would end up redshirting last season and Garwey Dual would be an NBA draft pick! As it turns out, Barron was the 3rd best player on the team by season’s end and ended up being named to the Big East All-Freshman Team while Dual never found his footing and ended up transferring to Seton Hall.

Obviously, Oswin has a fundamentally different game from Rich Barron. One is a wing, one is a big man, that is not rocket science. But if the former can cement himself as one of the 6 best freshmen in the league this season, it will bode well not only for the 2024-25 Providence Friars, but will set up the highly touted freshman to be the foundational piece of the program next season as well.