REPORT: Providence Friars’ top player is expected to terminate his contract as part of a double deal.

CASTRO IS THE THIRD FRIAR TO ENTER THE TRANSFER PORTAL.

Rafael Castro, the third member of the 2023-24 Friars, entered the portal on Monday, announcing his departure from Friartown.

Rafael Castro, the third member of the 2023-24 Friars, entered the portal on Monday, announcing his departure from Friartown.

Garwey Dual and Donovan Santoro entered the portal towards the conclusion of the previous week, with Castro joining them on Monday. Castro, a 6’11, 220-pound frontcourt player, had struggled to garner consistent playing time in the previous two seasons. Castro, a member of the 2021 recruiting class, redshirted the 2021-22 season to improve his skills and strength.

Castro, nicknamed “Slim” because to his small stature, made his debut in the 2022-23 season and appeared in few games. He scored 12 points and ten rebounds versus Albany, but had little influence beyond that.  Although he appeared in 26 games, he averaged just six minutes per game and 1.8 points on the season.

Kim English’s arrival raised hopes for additional playing time, and the possibility appeared to exist. Castro played well on the August tour to Spain, and when Will McNair left the programme in the first week of September, Castro was the only player on the squad capable of filling in for Josh Oduro in the post.

Castro had his moments throughout the 2023-24 season, but his performances lacked consistency. He had 13 points in the season opening against Columbia and 12 points in a career-high 23 minutes against DePaul in mid-January. He played solidly in 12 minutes at Butler in a game that Oduro missed, then scored eight points in 16 minutes on 4-4 shooting at Boston College ion the NIT.

Castro’s main concerns were a lack of strength and an inability to catch the ball. Despite three years of training under two different strength and conditioning programmes, Castro lacked the weight to retain his place down low and play through contact. Unreliable hands resulted in multiple mishandled passes and missed rebounds. Castro was billed as a rim protector owing to his height, length, and quickness, but he only had four blocks in 20 Big East games and shot only 42 percent from the free throw line. He excelled at converting close to the basket when he caught the ball cleanly. He averaged.678 on field goal tries this season, making 40 of 59.

With the portal entries of Castro, Dual, and Santoro, and the assumed departure of Devin Carter for the NBA, Providence now has four scholarships to fill with portal transfers. Kim English and staff will be deliberate and judicious with who they target and want. The Friars have several obvious needs. With Dual gone, PC needs and experienced point guard and ballhandler to play with Jayden Pierre. Pierre battled through injuries and illnesses this past season and English won’t want to get caught short at the point guard position again.

With Oduro gone, the Friars will need to bring in an experienced, productive post player who can play both facing and back to the basket and also provide defense down low. The Friars have Oswin and Anton Bonke, but both are young and inexperienced and neither figure to be ready for heavy minutes next season. Bryce Hopkins will be returning from an ACL tear and another big body who can man that position and face the basket and score would be ideal. That would allow Hopkins to ease back into the scheme of things and provide insurance and depth in then frontcourt. A fourth need would be a sweet shooting three-point threat at the wing. Each of the four additions needs to be able to shoot to fit English’s offense and if the staff can fill those holes, Providence would bring an interesting roster to play in 2024-25.

Already, over 800 players have accessed the portal, and Providence is operational. The Friars have reportedly reached out to Dion Brown, a 6’3 guard from UMBC, Sam Alexis, a 6’8 PF from Chattanooga, Jordan Sears, a 5’11 guard from UT-Martin, Gibson Jimerson, a 6’5 wing from St. Louis, Tarris Reid, a 6’10 big from Michigan, Jalen Leach, a 6’4 guard from Fairfield, Jason Rivera-Torres, a 6’6 guard from Vanderbilt, Jerry Deng, a 6’9 big from Hampton, and Bensley Joseph, a 6’1 point from Miami. Expect more names to appear.