Wesley Cardet Jr. only a single visit to decide on his next college basketball destination.
Providence received a commitment from the Chicago State wing Sunday evening. Cardet made the news during a live stream with The Field of 68.
Cardet is head coach Kim English and the Friars’ fourth transfer commitment since the portal opened in mid-March.
The 6-foot-6-inch perimeter player joins Miami guard Bensley Joseph, Saint Joseph’s big man Christ Essandoko, and Georgia wing Jabri Abdur-Rahim in committing to Providence for the 2024-25 season.
Cardet and Abdur-Rahim were on campus this weekend and were seen eating at a fancy downtown restaurant late Saturday.
“I feel like we shared a vision for how he sees me in the future,” Cardet said. “I’m going to rock with Coach English. He showed me everything I needed to see.
“He showed me he’s going to push me to be the best player I can be, and that’s all I needed.”
Cardet was a double-figure scorer in each of his two seasons with the Cougars, including 18.7 points per game in 2023-24. He added 4.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists for Chicago State, a school without a conference home that cobbled together an independent schedule. Cardet and his teammates were tabbed to play in the postseason College Basketball Invitational, and he totaled 55 points in two games against UC-San Diego and Fairfield.
“We don’t get as many resources as some of these other colleges are getting,” Cardet said. “During that process as a team, you’ve really got to ignore all of that and just stick together.”
The Cougars stunned city rival Northwestern and beat a Stetson team that eventually won its conference tournament to reach March Madness. Cardet hit for 30 points against the Wildcats, who had cracked the national polls by the time that game tipped in mid-December. It was one of 12 times Cardet collected at least 20 points against Division I foes last season.
“I’m most successful at the lead guard — the one or two position,” Cardet said. “Someone who can control the offense, make plays for my teammates. I can get in the paint very easily and make great decisions.”
The Friars had an obvious need on the perimeter with Devin Carter declaring for the NBA Draft and Ticket Gaines exhausting his college eligibility. Carter was the Big East Player of the Year largely thanks to his overall impact on league games, a two-way menace both scoring and defending. Cardet said he hopes to improve his outside shooting and show off more of a skillset stopping opposing guards and wings.
“People don’t realize my defensive level is pretty high,” Cardet said. “I feel like I’m one of the best two-way guards in the country. I feel like people see my offense a lot, but I take pride in my defense as well.”
Cardet followed his family through the majority of his basketball journey to date. He’s played for his uncles at his last three stops — head coach Kenny Gillion at West Oaks Academy in Orlando, assistant coach Zach Gillion at Samford and head coach Gerald Gillion at Chicago State. His mother, Tiffany Gillion, is a doctor who practices family medicine in Tallahassee.
“I feel like [Gerald Gillion] definitely worked on my game,” Cardet said of his last two seasons. “He got me better every day, He pushed me to be the best player I could be.”
Cardet was a four-star recruit who held offers from a host of power schools before committing to the Bulldogs — Auburn, Illinois, Rutgers, Kansas State, Maryland, Iowa State, Alabama, Clemson, Miami, USC and Florida were among the programs vying for his services. He played in 27 games as a freshman before a transfer to Chicago State. That pedigree and his production has earned Cardet some buzz toward the back end of the upcoming NBA Draft, and he’s entered his name while retaining his final season of eligibility.
“I’m still definitely fully committed to the NBA Draft,” Cardet said. “Right now, that’s what I’m working toward and that’s what I’m focused on.”
Providence has one open scholarship remaining and seems unlikely to fill it with any of its 2023-24 roster members in the transfer portal. Rafael Castro committed to George Washington while Garwey Dual and Donovan Santoro are both sorting through their recruiting process. The Friars could attempt to persuade 2025 big man Oswin Erhunmwunse to reclassify and enroll early, but nothing is definite on that front as of now.
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