Any college basketball fan whose brain has been poisoned enough from spending countless hours on social media is familiar with the scenario.
News will break that a player has entered the transfer portal or a highly touted recruit is set to announce their commitment and, invariably, a Providence
fan (or a small army of them) will pop up somewhere in the mentions with a simple, one-word message: "Friar".This week, those hopeful declarations came with a commitment — and an awfully big one at that.
Lewis Uvwo, a five-star center in the 2027 recruiting class, has committed to the Friars and first-year head coach Bryan Hodgson, Uvwo announced on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
Uvwo becomes the highest-rated commitment in Providence history, according to 247Sports' database, giving Hodgson one of his first major victories since he arrived from South Florida in March in one of the splashier moves of the 2026 coaching carousel.
The 6-foot-11 Uvwo chose the Friars from a final four that also included Kentucky, Baylor and Cal.
A standout at Prolific Prep in Florida, Uvwo is regarded as one of the top shot-blockers in his class.
It's the latest recruiting win for Hodgson since being hired. In late August, Providence landed a commitment from four-star class of 2026 forward Javon Bardwell, who had decommitted from Kansas earlier that month. Bardwell will play this season for a Friars team picked to finish fifth in the 11-team Big East in the league's preseason poll.
After going 27-38 the past two seasons, Providence fired coach Kim English and brought in Hodgson, who went 25-9 in his first and ultimately only season at South Florida. Hodgson led the Bulls to an American Conference title and just their second NCAA tournament appearance since 1993.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Providence, Bryan Hodgson land highest-rated recruit in program history
