The Providence Friars received their second commitment of the 2023 class Monday night with the announcement from super-skilled big Drew Fielder. Fielder, an Idaho native, will be playing ball this upcoming season on the West Coast at Southern California Academy alongside the other half of the Friars incoming 2023 class, guard Garwey Dual.

Friartown let’s work !!!@PCFriarsmbb @SocalAcad @TiptonEdits @CoachCooleyPC pic.twitter.com/W13npRoTRy

— Drew Fielder (@DrewFielder6) September 19, 2022

The Friars beat out USC, Arizona State, Boston College, Creighton, Iowa, Maryland, Miami, Nebraska, St. John’s, Syracuse and TCU to snag the 6’11” big guy. Most notably being USC, where Fielder visited at the beginning of September, as his high school (Southern California Academy) and AAU squad (West Coast Elite) are both located in sunny California.

Fielder committed after taking an official visit in Providence this past weekend. There were other upcoming planned visits to BC, ‘Cuse, and Colorado but we can forget about those now since Coach Cooley’s honesty, reputation, and genuineness connected with Fielder on a personal level, making him feel comfortable committing to Providence for the next step in his basketball journey.

“Coach Cooley and I are just super honest with each other and super real. It’s always honesty with Coach Cooley and he just keeps everything real. That’s why he’s so well respected and his reputation is what it is.”

– Drew Fielder via interview with Zach Smart

There will be definite opportunities for playing time his Freshman year as the most likely frontcourt players next season, Ed Croswell & Clifton Moore, will both be out of eligibility, leaving redshirt Freshman Rafael Castro as the lone big (as of now) from PC going into the 2023-2024 basketball season.

Fielder will give Friartown flashbacks to Noah Horchler with his size and ability to shoot the long ball but Fielder is much more comfortable putting the ball on the floor and creating separation to find his own shot, specifically from midrange, rather than solely being a spot-up shooter. He may not be the same level of rebounder (yet) that Horchler was but he does not shy away from contact and actually seems to both enjoy and welcome the physicality. One of the staples of any Coach Cooley recruiting target is competitiveness and Fielder has it in spades. He is constantly on the move on both sides of the floor and can run the floor alongside the guards. His range continues to move out past the three-point line and his shooting stroke is polished and smooth.

2023 Drew Fielder has emerged as one of the best bigs in the country at 6’10/6’11 with a skill set that translates at all levels. Hot name all over the nation. Colleges are extremely high on him because of his ball skills & size, but most importantly his TOUGHNESS. @DrewFielder6 pic.twitter.com/zYs2g7Ifrh

— Julius V. (@JuliusVElite0) August 31, 2022

Welcome to Friartown Drew!!