Just when you thought that the shark gifs were done for the summer, Bryan Hodgson comes off the top rope with a massive surprise commitment from yet another versatile wing in Javon Bradwell. Bradwell was a member of the 2027 class but is reclassifying to 2026 and will be joining the Friars, adding to their wealth of swingman options.

Bradwell was initially committed to Kansas in October of 2025 (over the likes of Louisville, Texas, & USC) before decommiting earlier this month. Bardwell was ranked at #18 in the class of 2027 but slides a little bit down to #36 while joining the much more loaded class of 2026. Once you get past the top ten ranks of any class, the next 50 or so players are pretty interchangeable if you ask me and it all depends on a subjective opinion anyway. Either way, a Top-40 ranked addition to the Providence Friars is an unbelievable gift with the season coming quickly.

“Javon is a four-star recruit, who became available recently when he reclassified to the class of 2026. He averaged 17 points and seven rebounds per game last season at Overtime Elite. Javon is a two-way player with NBA size and athleticism, who will be a dynamic playmaker in Friartown. Javon was recruited by a number of high-major programs and we are excited that we are able to add a player of his caliber to our roster.” – Bryan Hodgson

Bardwell is also very familiar with another new Friar, Clyde Walters, having played together for Overtime Elite RWE in the AAU circuit during the 2025-26 season. Prior to that, he played for the Overtime Elite Diamond Doves in 2024-25. This summer, Bardwell put up 20.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for Compton Magic on the adidas 3SSB Circuit. That was enough to earn him a spot on the USA 3SSB Select squad at adidas Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy, where he dropped 25 points against projected top five lottery pick Stefan Joksimović of Baskonia and Slovenia, who was playing for Team Next Gen.

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This move is probably a two for one. First, you are getting a legitimate top level talent who will go up against premier two way wings every day and has already signed a two year contract with the team. That kind of experience is only going to make him better.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, if the NCAA decides to pull the rug out from under everyone and changes the eligibility rules it had in place earlier this year, potentially creating an issue with Dink Pate’s eligibility, having a Top 40 recruit waiting in the wings is about as good of a backup plan as you can have.

Who knows where this thing will land before the season starts, but the NCAA is once again finding a way to screw over players who followed the rules that were in place when they made their decisions. Now they are apparently considering changing those rules after the fact. Because apparently that is how this is supposed to work.

The NCAA desperately needs to get its shit together.

Now, here’s some highlights to get a feel of the new Friar’s game. The aspects of his game that immediately stick out to me are his quickness, ability to finish, and handles for a guy of his size. He also moves really well without the ball and never seems to slow down at any point during the game.

And just a nice to know for Friartown, it looks like he goes by Vonny.