By KEVIN McNAMARA
The Shark is about to end his feeding.
Providence College coach Bryan Hodgson continued to secure his targets out of the transfer portal this spring by getting a commitment from Jacob Bannarbie, a 6-9 transfer from UNLV. Bannarbie, who played two seasons in Vegas, also visited North Carolina State this week before picking Providence.
Bannarbie becomes the 11th player on Hodgson’s first roster with the Friars. He joins a big men group that includes Samson Aletan (Yale) and Arringten Page (Northwestern) with all three bringing slightly different sets of skills to the mix.
While Aletan is an elite athlete who can run, defend and block shots, Page uses his 6-11 frame to defend and also step away from the basket and score. Bannarbie is more of a power forward who handles the ball well for his 6-9, 235-pound size and does all of his work inside the 3-point line. Bannarbie averaged 5.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 51.9% from the field. He played in 30 games (15 starts), averaged 16.2 minutes per contest and was limited by assorted injuries this past season.
Bannarbie, a native of Alaska whose family is now based in California, redshirted his first season in Las Vegas and then saw just 6.6 minutes across 19 games as a redshirt freshman. So the 2026-27 campaign in the Big East will be the 21-year old’s fourth collegiate year.
Bannarbie played high school basketball at two western powers in Hillprest Prep (Phoenix) and Southern California Academy. The 247Sports web site ranked him as the No. 40 center nationally and the No. 12 overall player in California in the 2023 class and he chose UNLV over San Jose State, Washington State, Portland, San Francisco, and UC Santa Barbara.
When he signed with UNLV, then-Rebels coach Kevin Kruger said “Jacob is a tough, physical, athletic forward that will compete on every possession. We look forward to having him join our program.” Bannarbie played for Josh Pastner in Vegas this past season.
With Bannarbie in tow, Hodgson now has 11 players on his roster. Here’s a synopsis, with a nod towards the fact that several of the new Friars own positional versatility.
PG: Gavin Hightower, Malik Mack
SG: Dink Pate, Ryan Sabol, Devin Vanterpool
SF: Miles Byrd, Ryan Mela
PF: Jacob Bannarbie, Leonardo Marangon
C: Samson Aletan (Pictured below), Arrinten Page
