Kiwi Gardner, a 5-foot-7 senior point guard from Westwind (Az.) Prep, is the first commit of the Ed Cooley Era at Providence.
“Kiwi is an electrifying point guard who will bring instant excitement to the Friars program,” Westwind coach Gary Trousdale said by text. “Great addition and great for the Westwind program. Our first player in the Big East.”
Gardner, whose chose the Friars over UCF and Murray State, averaged 23.7 points, 7.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds a game. He dropped a career-high 40 points against JUCO champion College of Southern Idaho.
He runs with the Oakland Soldiers AAU team that produced Nick Johnson (Arizona), Jabari Brown (Oregon) and Kyle Wiltjer (Kentucky).
WEST VIRGINIA’S JONES TO TEST NBA WATERS
West Virginia junior forward Kevin Jones of Mount Vernon, N.Y., will test the NBA waters but won’t hire an agent.
“Kevin will go through the process in a systematic and professional manner by exploring the situation and leaving open his option to come back,” Mounties coach Bob Huggins said. “If he decides there is an opportunity out there for him, he will have 100 percent support of the Mountaineer basketball program as was the case with Joe Alexander and Devin Ebanks.”
The 6-8 Jones averaged 13.1 points and 7.5 rebounds this season.
BIG VISITS GOING DOWN
Notre Dame Prep junior wing Ricky Ledo, a onetime Providence commit, was on the UConn campus Thursday…Jamari Traylor, a 6-7 forward from IMG Academies, will visit Kansas beginning Friday. Kansas coach Bill Self watched him in person Wednesday. He is also considering Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and St. John’s…Oklahoma added former Wyoming standout Amath M’Baye. A 6-9, 210-pound forward from Bordeaux, France, M’Baye started all 31 games last year as a sophomore for Wyoming, averaging 12.0 points and a team-high 5.7 rebounds.
