Legend Geeter is the first member of Providence’s 2021 recruiting class, and while he doesn’t have a ton of national fanfare, he fits a prototype that has been extremely successful under Ed Cooley in recent years.
Cooley has thrived with physical, versatile forwards who he can move around the court likes pieces on a chess board, deciding when to play through them to exploit certain match-ups, all while controlling the pace of play.
It’s a recipe we’ve seen time and time again, particularly down the stretch of last season. The Friars had bought into playing a smash-mouth style utilizing powerful bodies at virtually every position and turning their season around in the process.
So while the Friars may not have shut down twitter with Geeter’s commitment on Friday, all indications are that he will be an ideal fit in their system and, ultimately, the type of player whose overall impact will exceed what most may expect.
First and foremost, he’s highly versatile. He may not be the type of athlete who is going to pop off the page when you first see him, but he’s got an Alpha Diallo type ability to create mismatch problems and operate from various spots on the floor, albeit with a little more size.
He’s a true mismatch problem who can play inside and out, attack bigger defenders off the bounce, and less physical ones around the rim. He’s going to be capable of playing and defending both forward positions, especially when the Friars elect to play zone and run the flex on the offensive end.
Geeter has also been extremely well-coached as his River Rouge program is currently led by LaMonta Stone, a longtime college coach with previous stops at Ohio State, Bowling Green, and Eastern Michigan. Stone also has multiple state championships to his credit at the high school level.
That’s a big part of the reason why Geeter’s basketball IQ and passing ability is advanced for someone his age and size. He reportedly averaged 16 points and 10 assists per game last season, and learned how to adapt and pass out of double-teams after seeing multiple defenders on a consistent basis.
Committed 💫 pic.twitter.com/MQdOg9nAnX
— LegendGeeter4 (@LegendGeeter4) September 11, 2020
Geeter’s finalists ultimately came down to Providence, Georgetown, Duquesne, Western Michigan, and a Mizzou program that ultimately ran out of spots after accepting other commitments. However, he’s certainly a prospect who would have played his way into more high-level offers had circumstances been different. He missed time with injury last summer while playing with the Nike sponsored program, The Family, and, then, never got the chance to earn the type of exposure that the grassroots season provides when COVID hit.
Locally though, the consensus in the Midwest region seems to be that Geeter was under-recruited nationally. It’s also believed that Providence should benefit from tapping into local relationships stemming from the success of LaDontae Henton, another Michigan native, as well as the relationships of assistant coach Jeff Battle, who recruited the area hard in the past when he was an assistant at Xavier.
Moving forward, the Friars have two available scholarships, including one that remains unfilled this year as they head into the season with only 12 scholarship players. This offers them the flexibility to add a mid-year transfer should the opportunity present itself.
With Nate Watson and Noah Horchler both set to graduate, the emphasis will continue to be on adding more size up front. The Friars are one of several programs, including the likes of Kansas, that are chasing Phelps (PA) and Team Durant big man Sam Onu. They’re also making a late push for Dover (NJ) and Team Rio’s Rafael Castro, an athletic and wiry 6’9” late-bloomer who is also considering the likes of Miami and Dayton among others.
This list is bound to get longer before it gets shorter though, as the transfer market may ultimately be the most likely place to add new talent. The reason is the unprecedented number of transfers that we’ve seen in 2020 and, given all of the uncertainty around college basketball, the potential for even more in the next calendar year.
