Friartown Holes Being Filled - Kevin Stacom
Kevin Stacom, Sports Analyst
Friartown Holes Being Filled - Kevin Stacom
Although the window for the “Portal” in men’s Collegiate basketball opened April 7th this year and closed on April 21st, that was the time period designated for prospective players to enter. They did not have to sign within that period of time.
Signings can continue right into the fall.
As anticipated, new Coach Bryan Hodgson and his staff are still at work finalizing a few more signings, fleshing out the roster with some real “need” type acquisitions this past week- a legitimate Big, another versatile wing, and an experienced point guard
Here is a quick look at 3 of the latest players added to the Providence College men’s roster for the 2026-2027 season:
#1- Arrinten Page, 6’11”, 245lb C/PF Sr
Page’s Junior year stats at Northwestern University:
29 games; 22.9 minutes/game
55% FG’s; 66% FT’s; 4.5 rebounds; 1.8assists/1.2 TO’s; 1.2 Blocks; .9 steals; 10.2 points/game
As you begin to watch film on Page and research a bit of his history, it’s easy to understand why he was such a highly recruited prospect coming out of Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia.
And he was very highly rated and recruited accordingly- #48 nationally by 247 Sports, #40 by ESPN.
He fielded offers from Georgia, Missouri, Florida, Cincinnati, UCLA, Miami, Indiana, etc.
On the talent side, he’s very impressive in terms of mobility, ability to run the floor, he’s a good athlete, and most importantly for a big man, he has very good hands and feet. As far as skill goes, there doesn’t seem to be much that he can’t do. He has very good mechanics on his jumper, on tape he showed flashes of a very good post up game, being able to execute a variety of spin moves, drop steps, finishing with either hand, can face from midrange where he is both able to be a real threat with the jumper or also put it on the floor in either direction getting to the hoop- a type of DeMarcus Cousins starter kit.
Another interesting part of his game that jumps out at you from time to time is his ability to pass the ball from his position- he had 1.8 assists/1.2 TO’s a game. Whenever you can get almost 2 Assists and that positive ratio to turnovers from your big man, that gets the analytics guys (and coaches) excited
Also, the 1.2 blocks and almost 1 steal per game in that relatively short amount of minutes (23) is another positive marker.
This will be the 4th school in 4 years for Arrinten Page, with USC, Cincinnati, and Northwestern being his previous stops.
Last year at Northwestern would have to be considered a breakout year for him, as his minutes and production across the board more than doubled compared to his initial two years in college.
In general, big men take more time to develop, and it seems from all indications that this could be the perfect situation for a player like Page. Of course, there is still some skill development to be done, but it seems that there is a key that needs to be turned mentally/psychologically for Arrinten Page to reach another level in his development.
The basic talent and skill package is there; it’s the motivation and focus that need to be revved up a notch.
Coach Hodgson just might be the guy who’s able to hit the right note with Page and be able to help put the necessary fire in his belly to take advantage of this new opportunity
On paper, he could be a great compliment to the 6’10” 225lb Yale transfer, Samson Aleton, offering a more advanced offensive package, to either platoon each other, or at times possibly playing with each other to form a big front line for a totally different look. Will be interesting to watch how that plays out.
#2- Leonardo Marangon, 6’7”, 190lbs G/SF from Italy
Last year's stats from Italy, UEB Gestico
Cividale in Italy’s Serie A2:
9.8 Points; 4.1 rebounds; 1.9 assists;
44% FG’s; 40% 3’s; 67% FT’s
This is getting scary now- scary for the opposing team’s offenses with another versatile athletic wing with a reputation for being an excellent defender being added to an already like-minded deep wing group of Bryan Hodgson’s inaugural PC roster.
I reached out to a friend of mine, Roberto Carmenati, who had been a long-time coach in the Italian league, and has been a European scout for the Dallas Mavericks for many years, and currently lives in Fabriano, Italy
Roberto happens to be very friendly with his coach, is very familiar with Marangon, and about whom he said the following: “He’s a very versatile, athletic off-guard, Small Forward, and is a very good Point Forward in an uptempo game.
A good defender and solid high energy player who does a bit of everything A streaky but improving shooter- good kid. "You should have no problems with him off the court.”
Roberto confirmed what Marangon showed on some of the tape I was able to see. He moved well without the ball, made good decisions when he received it, had good-looking mechanics on his jumper, showed both a decent and good catch and shoot, and also could create a bit off the dribble.
Handle it well enough in the open court to either pull up or take it strong to the hoop.
But what really stood out was his very determined focus on the defensive side of the ball- picking guys up early and turning them - really making the ball handler work to advance the ball.
Like a lot of these select European players, Marangon has been playing some type of professional ball since he was 15 years old.
At 15, he played for Next Generation Team Varese and for the last 3 years for UEB Gestico Cividale, where his minutes have increased from 13.8, 19.0, to 25.3 this past year. He will turn 21 this November 29th, but will be considered a freshman in terms of eligibility
It’s apparent that Coach Hodgson is being true to what he stated in his opening press conference.
They will really apply a lot of relentless pressure on the defensive side of the ball.
With the addition of Marangon (6’7”) to the already assembled guards and wings such as Miles Byrd (6’7”), Dink Pate (6’8”), Devin Vanterpool (6’4”), and Gavin Hightower (6’1”), there’s a lot of athleticism, length, and lateral quickness to be very disruptive on the defensive end. Ryan Mela might not be the lockdown defender the rest of these guys are, but he’s been proven to be disruptive himself in passing lanes with his high BBall IQ, which should only be accentuated in combination with such a like-minded group.
There will be a lot of defensive schemes at Coach Hodgson’s disposal that will, in turn, be able to ignite a good amount of uptempo high-octane offense in the process.
They should, at times, be able to switch just about any matchup on the perimeter with all that size and length.
#3- Malik Mack, 6’1”, 170lb, Sr., G
Mack’s last year's statistics at Georgetown:
34 games; 32.3 minutes/ game
38% FG%; 30% 3’s; 82% FT’s; 3 rebounds; 4.1 assists/2.0 TO’s; .9 steals; 13.6 points/game
When Rick Pitino was one of the first coaches to emphatically state (in general) publicly that he was not interested in recruiting high school players in this new portal era, he was alluding to the obvious situation of a young 18-year-old fresh out of high school having to compete against experienced 22-23-year-olds.
The signing of Malik Mack out of the Portal this week is an illustration of this basic strategy executed by Coach Bryan Hodgson.
Malik Mack is probably in the vague category of what is referred to as a “scoring” point guard. This generally refers to a guard who plays the role of a primary ball handler but leans more towards scoring the ball than passing it.
That description can be documented by the fact that Mack launched 71 more Field Goal Attempts than the next closest player (KJ Lewis)on the team -404 FGA for Mack, 333 for KJ Lewis.
That having been said, Malik had by far the most assists on the team- 141, 4.1 per game, and, like he has done the last 3 years playing in college basketball, has sported a positive 2 to 1 ratio to the good.
This year, 4.1 Assists to 2.0 Turnovers average for the season.
The idea is probably that Coach Hodgson will still want Malik Mack to be aggressive offensively, but with the talent being assembled around him, there won’t be as much pressure for him to always be the primary scorer
Mack’s best asset to me has always been the elite quickness that can create problems for defenses trying to keep him out of the lane. Ever since his 1st year at Harvard, where he was Ivy League Rookie of the Year (averaged 17.2 points), he has been giving defenses fits. He is a very competitive, physically tough player who can get to the basket, inviting contact, has a good midrange and floater in his arsenal, in addition to his 3.
He obviously has a lot of confidence in it since it comprised just about 47% of all his field goal attempts this past year. He shot only 30% this year from 3, but with this group coming in at PC, that should greatly improve, since the looks he’ll be getting should be much easier, given the faster style of play and the quality of players he’ll be playing with
But again, the common thread of what Bryan Hodgson and his staff are putting together here is assembling a group of athletic, quick, tough-minded guys that can create some havoc on the defensive end
Mack not only fills an important position but also fits into that overall mission expressed by Coach Hodgson because when he focuses on it, he can be a great on-ball defender.
Mack and Hightower will be quick on quick, either playing together or maintaining defensive intensity as they platoon one another.
This roster is coming together very nicely!