by Andrew Vines ’29 on October 1, 2026
Men's Basketball
New head coach Bryan Hodgson added two late high school recruits to this year’s roster. Clyde Walters ’30 and Javon Bardwell ’30 were both sought-after recruits that Hodgson convinced to reclassify from the class of ’27 to the class of ’26 to play this season. Bardwell committed the day before classes started at Providence College. Reclassing made Bardwell a top-40 recruit in the class of ’26, and he was ranked even higher in the class of ’27. These two commitments highlight what seems to be Hodgson’s long-term goal. At the BOP Coach’s Corner event in the Ryan School of Business on Sept. 22, Hodgson said that he wants to recruit around two high schoolers each year. He also mentioned that he wants to bring them in on two-year NIL deals. Having these players on multi-year deals helps maintain roster continuity in a world of ever-changing rosters.
Hodgson has decided to go after many highly ranked high schoolers in his first few months on campus. This should come as no surprise, as he was nicknamed “the shark” after his recruiting abilities were highlighted by multiple top 10 recruitments at Alabama. Providence is also in many top recruits’ final lists of schools.
Nasir Anderson has been one of the highest ranked players to visit this year. The five-star is a 6’3” point guard who currently plays at Prolific Prep. He was listed as the No. 8 player in the 2027 class by 247 sports. Anderson included Providence in his top 10 list, which also includes University of Indiana, University of North Carolina, University of Kentucky, University of Connecticut, University of Virginia, University of Syracuse, University of Tennessee, University of Georgia, and University of Florida.
Anderson’s Prolific Prep teammate Lewis Uvwo is ranked as the top center in the class of ’27. 247 has Lewis ranked one spot higher than Anderson at No. 7. Uvwo is 6’11” and, as Adam Finkelstein of 247 says, “[he is] a truly elite defensive product.” Uvwo has also visited Kentucky, University of California Berkeley, and Baylor University.
Another big-name recruit who has been on campus is King Gibson, a guard out of Spire Academy. Gibson is a top-20 recruit. Like Anderson, Gibson included the Friars in his top 10 schools, which includes Michigan and UConn, both teams from last year’s national championship game.
Most recently, Dylan Jones, a top-40 recruit and four-star from Tennessee, was on campus. His top six included the Friars, among Memphis and four SEC schools; University of Alabama, University of Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M.
The list of visits and interests is longer than these four players, but it is clear that Coach Hodgson and staff are going to compete for top high school talent. Hodgson is not doing this alone, he has a great staff with another big recruiter: general manager Tee Butters. Fans can expect to see some high level high school players commit to Providence over the next couple of months. “The shark” has come to Friartown ready to go big-fish hunting.