Friar Basketball

Mann Would be Key in ’15

TeranceMann

Update: Mann’s visit was postponed to 8/1 due to travel issues coming back from the Kevin Durant Skills Academy.

Providence had 2015 wing Terance Mann on campus this afternoon, according to various reports. Mann had long been assumed to be a Georgetown lean because his mother, Daynia La-Force, graduated from there in 1995. La-Force was named the head women’s coach at Rhode Island in May after a successful stint at Northeastern, and if things break well for the Friars her son will play his college ball half an hour away in Providence.

Mann didn’t take long to make an impact on the prep circuit. He is the latest in a long line of top 100 BABC/Tilton products, with Nerlens Noel, Georges Niang, Wayne Selden, Gerard Coleman, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and Alex Oriahki all preceding him.

Providence hadn’t been mentioned with Mann much over the past 12 months, which was disappointing to this writer, as he’d been one of the most productive underclassmen I’d seen over the last two years.

The 6’5 Mann is a well-above-average athlete, who is at his best when finishing around and through traffic. He’s long armed, elusive and aggressive offensively, where he often finishes one-handed lobs well above the rim.

Where Mann could have an even greater impact in college is on the defensive end, since he’s already a playmaker who has played the passing lanes well when I’ve seen him.

ESPN ranks Mann #78 in the class of 2015, while the New England Recruiting Report ranks him 5th in New England’s class of 2015 (a spot behind Brewster’s Donovan Mitchell) and before Aaron Falzon, Jarred Reuter and Steve Enoch.

If Ed Cooley and staff could somehow manage to land both Mann and Mitchell in the 2015 class, the Friars will have the makings of a potentially dominating defensive unit. Both Mann and Mitchell are terrific athletes who play the game with assertiveness on the defensive end, yet unselfishly offensively. It’s hard to overstate the impact this duo would have on the heels of 2014’s frontcourt-heavy haul of Jalen Lindsey, Ben Bentil and Paschal Chukwu. Despite his top 80 ranking in most services, Mann is a name that many have slept on.

He finished his junior season on the 1st Team All NEPSAC AA Team. The others on that list were all prep stars: Kaleb Joseph (Syracuse), Abdul-Malik Abu (North Carolina State), Jalen Adams (2015 UConn commit), Goodluck Okonoboh (UNLV) and Bonzie Colson (Notre Dame).

With Mitchell on campus this weekend and Mann on Monday, this could be a critical week for the Friars.

 

Twitter: @Kevin_Farrahar

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