Providence basketball recruit, Oswin Erhunmwunse, reclassifies; what that means for Friars

Providence College men’s basketball fans won’t have to wait an extra year to see Oswin Erhunmwunse take the floor.

The consensus top-50 recruit will reclassify and join the Friars for the 2024-25 season. Erhunmwunse has finished his prep requirements at Putnam Science and has spent a couple of dominant months this spring both on the Adidas grassroots circuit and at the NBPA Top 100 Camp.

“Oswin has the ability to score the ball in a number of ways and is dominant on the defensive side of the ball,” Providence coach Kim English said in a statement. “Most importantly, he has an infectious personality and he will be great fit for the culture of our program.”

Erhunmwunse adds frontcourt depth to a group that includes Saint Joseph’s transfer Christ Essandoko, junior college transfer Anton Bonke, redshirt freshman Eli DeLaurier and returning senior Bryce Hopkins. Essandoko is the only member of that quartet who played something approaching a full 2023-24 campaign. Bonke enrolled midseason and practiced with the team, DeLaurier redshirted after an early ankle injury and Hopkins missed the final three months after suffering a serious left knee injury in a January home game against Seton Hall.

Erhunmwunse is a 6-foot-10 Nigeria native who averaged 9.1 points 7.1 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots for the Mustangs last season. He shot 74.8% from the field and made his most significant impact around the rim at both ends. Erhunmwunse totaled six games with 10 or more rebounds and five games with five or more blocked shots.

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Erhunmwunse has starred at different points in his career with Team New England and BABC. He averaged 12.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots at the NBPA event last week in Orlando, competing against an invitation-only pool of players. Erhunmwunse also shot 67.1% from the field over the course of nine games.

Erhunmwunse committed to Providence in January, selecting the Friars ahead of finalists Creighton, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma. He received an offer from Providence during an unofficial visit in June, attended its Late Night Madness event at Amica Mutual Pavilion and also collected offers from the likes of Iowa, Texas Tech, Rutgers, Marquette, Wake Forest, California, Washington and Alabama.

“I want to stay home and be a legend,” Erhunmwunse said on his commitment announcement with 247Sports. “I know that I can do something special at Providence.”

Erhunmwunse’s first order of business will be to help the Friars back to the NCAA Tournament. Providence finished 21-14 last season and fell to Boston College in the opening round of the NIT. The Friars battled admirably without Hopkins but ultimately came up a couple of wins shy of reaching the field for the first time under English and the eighth time since the 2013-14 campaign.

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Erhunmwunse became the second of three consensus top-50 national prospects to commit to English. Garwey Dual was the first — the 2023 guard has since announced a transfer to Seton Hall after a lone season. Jamier Jones was the most recent, as the 2025 Florida wing pledged to Providence in May. He’s now the only committed member of that next recruiting class, and the Friars are actively looking to find him some future teammates.

Providence’s staff was busy reaching out to 2026 prospects over the last few days as the formal contact period with players in that class opened over the weekend. The Friars have reportedly extended new offers to a pair of four-star talents — New Jersey point guard Deron Rippey Jr. and Texas wing Bo Ogden. Providence has also reportedly been in touch with Connecticut wing Abdou Toure and New York point guard Jermel Thomas, among others.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On X: @BillKoch25

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Oswin Erhunmwunse to play for Friars in 2024-25