There’s been so much going on in Friartown that I had to combine it all into a single post in order to not keep posting for days on end. That’s not even mentioning that the Men’s Lacrosse team literally just won on an overtime goal while I was in the middle of writing this.
1. Bryan Hodgson Gets His First Transfer Signing with Miles Byrd from SDSU
Hodgson and staff didn’t waste a second once the transfer portal officially opened at midnight following the National Championship game. They are off and running and The Shark’s first catch could not be a more welcome sight for Providence fans who had to watch last year’s team attempt to keep teams under 100 points every game (FYI, they gave up 100+ 5 times last season). Miles Byrd is a defensive difference maker, which is not something you can routinely say about 6’7” wings in college basketball. Byrd, who played 4 years at San Diego State, has one year of eligibility remaining as a graduate transfer. He was named to the Mountain West All-Defensive Team each of the last two seasons and was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year for 2025-26. In order to receive the DPOY accolade, Byrd led his team in steals (57), blocks (36), and defensive rebounds (119) last year.
I had no idea that there was such a thing as the “Hakeem Percentage,” but I fucking love it now that I know that it exists. It rates players based on their combined steal/block rate and Byrd landed in the 100th percentile nationally. He also finished in the 96th percentile for defensive rebounding for a guard. He’s going to remind a lot of Friartown of a recent fan favorite, Justin Minaya, who also happened to be a southpaw.
Byrd posted a stat line of 10.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.9 spg, and 1.2 bpg across 28 minutes per game while starting every game of the season (33) for a team finished 22-11 and in second place in the Mountain West. He is going to create offense through his defense as he has hovered right around his 30.8% he shot from three last season for his entire collegiate career (30.5%). He is a very dependable free-throw shooter however, hitting a 79.5% clip last season and 81.5% for his career. I’m guessing having some scoring pressure alleviated last season could translate into some improved in-game shooting as he tended to take some contested shots within the offense based on a decent number of highlights I’ve watched thus far.
2. Westchester Knicks Guard Dink Pate Commits to Providence the Same Day
I was at least somewhat familiar with Miles Byrd based on looking at some of the portal rankings but Dink Pate was not a name I was expecting to hear become the second commitment on the very same day. First of all, Dink Pate is immediately the best name on the team…even though we don’t have enough players to field a starting five at the moment.
And if you liked his name the first time you heard it, his Twitter handle is I AM THE SHOOTER, which is exactly what my guys having as their handles. The confidence just oozes out of this dude and I am here for it. Pate joined the G-League Ignite team at just 17 years old making him the youngest professional basketball player in the history of American basketball. To put that into prospective, Pate is a just a month older than UConn’s Braylon Mullins.
He’s already played three seasons in the G-League with Ignite in his first, the Mexico City Capitanes in year two, and the Westchester Knicks this past season. This past season, Pate averaged 16.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, & 3.6 apg while shooting 36.8% from three on almost 8 attempts per game and 79.3% from the line. Standing at 6’8” and with guard attributes, Pate is going to be a problem for the Big East wings and guards to match up with. He thrives in transition and welcomes the moment.
3. Josh Orduo Makes his NBA Debut with the New Orleans Pelicans
Josh Oduro has been playing with the Binghamton Squadron for the past two season and has been nipping at the heels of the NBA, working out for teams, playing in the Summer League, Signing an Exhibit 10 contract & Training Camp contract with a couple of waives and the such occurring along the way. With the way he puts in work with the Squadron, I knew it was only a matter of time before he eventually got a chance with the big league team. This season he was averaging 16.4 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.2 spg, 1.3 bpg before getting the call.
In his first game, he scored 9 points (4/7) and grabbed 5 rebounds in a Pelicans win against the Utah Jazz. In his second game against the Boston Celtics, Oduro posted his first career double-double in the NBA with 12 points and 12 rebounds, finishing with a +6 against the Celts.
4. Devin Carter Goes for a Career-High 29 points
Hey, look at that. You give Devin Carter minutes and he fucking produces. They’re finally letting the young guys play in Sacramento and although it’s hurting their draft positioning, it’s actually letting the Kings know if they have young bucks who can ball…surprise, they do.
Carter tallied a career-high 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting with a career-high 6 made threes on 11 attempts. Not to be overshadowed, the Friar also had another career-high with 9 rebounds, to go along with 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block, because that’s the sort of stuff he does.
Over the last 11 games when Carter has been getting legitimate minutes, eight of those games he’s scored in double-figures, with four of them being over 20 points apiece. He’s averaged 15.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.6 apg, & 1.0 spg, while shooting 21-of-53 from three (39.6%). Carter has struggled from three when he’s been playing extremely limited minutes most likely playing tight with the always looming short string he’s working with and the pressure of being a high draft pick who immediately started his career with a long stint on the injured list with a shoulder.
5. Bryan Hodgson Fills Out His Staff
Hodgson alluded to bringing his entire staff with him to Providence as they’ve helped him achieve everything in his head coaching career so far. After announcing his immediate hiring of assistants, there was only a couple of positions remaining to decide on. The first six members included Associate Coach/General Manager Tee Butters (another stellar name), Assistant Coach Jamie Quarles, Assistant Coach Derek Rongstad, Assistant Coach Logan Ingram, Assistant Coach Alex Harris, & Director of Basketball Operations Tyler Pacheco.
His latest to hires to complete next year’s staff were Director of Player Development Martin Stockwell & Chief of Staff Jacqueline Grant.
Best of luck to all the newly named Friars.
6. And Then There Were Three…Gavin Hightower Follows Hodgson from South Florida
Literally as I am about to publish this, late Saturday night news drops about a brand new commit to the Providence Friars. Hightower is the first (but maybe not last) South Florida Bull to make his way to Friartown.
The Friars were without a true point guard so Hightower definitely fills that void for next year’s team. He also comes with three years of eligibility remaining, which is another plus for the slowly developing roster in Providence. Hightower played in 26 games last season averaging 4.1 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.7 apg, and 0.8 spg. After playing sparingly through the majority of the year (14 of 19 games playing single-digit minutes), his playing time jumped down the stretch when the games mattered the most and his team was playing for an NCAA tournament bid (which they got).
Over his last 7 games, including the conference and NCAA tournament, Hightower saw his minutes jump from 7.2 minutes per game to 18.3 minutes per game. During the most important part of the season, Hightower played his best basketball, averaging 6.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, & 3.0 apg with a 2.6:1 assist to turnover ratio. He doesn’t shoot the three ball with only 5 attempts last season (making 1) but his game relies more on quickness on both ends of the floor and a high basketball IQ. Also, by only taking 5 three-point attempts, you can tell that he plays his game knowing his own current limitations as a player.
LET’S GO!!!
The Morning Hangover 