Transfer Player Spotlight: Wesley Cardet Jr. (Providence)

Kim English is heading into his second year as the head coach of the Providence Friars. Last year they went 21-14 and missed the tournament. This effort was mostly on the backs of their two star players last season in Devin Carter and Josh Odoro. The two of them accounted for over 49% of the points the Friars scored last season. With a lot of uncertainty about where the points were going to come from this upcoming season Providence resulted to the portal. The highest touted player that they were about to add was Chicago State guard Wesley Cardet jr. Last season he averaged 18.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists for the Cougars. He is a 6-6 guard that would presumably fill into the perimeter scoring hole this year that was left by Devin Carter. Obviously no one can expect him to fully replace the value that the Big East Player of the year provided but he is going to have to be that premier perimeter scorer to compliment Bryce Hopkins if Providence is going to live up to the expectations they no doubt have put on themselves. While this is the outcome that needs to happen for Providence to become a tournament team Cardet might struggle to fill this role. He is a supremely talented player but he is coming to completely new system with a lot of expectations. When you combine that with the flaws within Cardet’s game it could lead to a disappointing season. If he used in the correct way by English and his staff and adapts his skillset he could be one of the best scorers and players in the Big East. It is up to Kim English and his staff to get the most out of the guard.

Offensively Cardet was already one of the top scorers in the nation last season highlighted by his 30 point performance against Northwestern to help lead the Cougars to an upset victory. What immediately stands out about Cardet offensively is his uber athleticism and body control when driving to the lane. He uses this to be virtually unstoppable in transition. This is by far his best asset he can straight up just jump higher than the defender or use his ridicolus body control to hang in the air in finish. When you combine that with one of the highest foul rates in the nation he is always going to get points in transition. However, Providence is not a team that runs all that often with the 171st fastest tempo in the nation last season. This number has gone up each of the three seasons at Kim English has been a head coach but to increase this number again would take away from the defensive identity that Kim English has always brought to his teams. So to add a player whose biggest asset is not an integral part of the system in place is a strange fit. The half court is where Cardets offensive game is still good but not at that elite level. He is still first and foremost a slasher he is trying to get to the rim. However, he can also have games where he gets reliant on the three. Cardet is not a bad shooter and he can make very difficult ones but the fact of the matter is he takes a lot of contested and deep threes while not being an elite shooter so he only shot 33% last season. A lot of the threes that Cardet takes come in pick and roll sets. This is one area where he struggled last season he kept settling for deep threes because teams were either hedging the ball screen or blitzing him and cutting of his driving lanes. This results in the slasher Wesley Cradet jr. settling for contested jumpers instead of getting to the lane. Finding more ways to consistently get to the rim is an important part of Cardet’s development to ensure he can compete at the Big East level. His playmaking is not quite consistent en enough to hurt the defenses enough to stop teams from closing off the lanes. He shows flashes of being an incredible passer especially when finding cutters. He loves to use his size to get the ball over the defense and find open players but he also forces passes quite a bit which leads to turnovers and contributes to his overall inefficiency as a star player. Playmaking and three point shooting ability are the two areas in which Cardet needs to improve on if he wants to be a consistent perimeter creator in the Big East. The pick and roll is the first area that he needs to focus on. If Cardet can buckle down and learn how to read the defense in the pick and roll and use that to not force turnovers and instead use his playmaking talent to create for his teammates his offensive game will open up. If his playmaking is a legitimate threat teams can’t shut off his driving lanes and he could use his slashing talent more effectively. The other big area of struggle for him is that he provides almost no value as an off ball player. At Chicago State he showed nothing as a cutter or even to play a safety net for his teammates if they get in trouble. Providence could use him in a more on ball dominant role than he was at Chicago State which would overall help his game and provide the most value he can. That is dependent on the leap he takes as a playmaker this off season. While his fit into Providences system isn’t perfect one thing that could really help him is when Bryce Hopkins was on the court early in the year they ran a lot of 5 out sets. That is obviously a privilege of having two big men that can shoot on the court but if Providence could get back to similar sets it would really open driving lanes for Cardet to get to the basket and do what he does best. Overall by the time the Friars reach Big East play Cardet will be putting up consistent scoring numbers no matter what the question that remains to be answered is if those numbers are going to correlate with winning basketball. Providence is a very bubbly team in the scope of college basketball right now and a lot of that hinges on the offensive impact of Wesley Cardet Jr.

Defensively Cardet has all of the potential in the world. He can guard 1-3, he’s got long arms, and he moves his feet well. If he could put it all together Cardet could be a really good defender in the Big East. He is not going to be a guy that they decide to put on the best player night in and night out but he is still going to a plus on the defensive end. The problem is he doesn’t seem to focused on defense all the time. His off ball defense is lacking because of those lapses in focus which leads to open threes often times. The bigger issue is that he isn’t a gritty player whatsoever. He is not a guy that is going to make the winning plays that can really elevate a teams play. While not every single player on the court has to be wired to be a hustle player it is concerning that it seems to be the way that Cardet is wired on both sides of the ball. Unless the ball in actively in front of him or in his hands he seems complacent. Kim English is a coach that player seem to be willing to run through a brick wall for so ideally some of that would rub off on Cardet. Overall I think in on ball scenarios Cardet is going to be an above average perimeter defender and provide some value on this end. However is he could commit to making the winning plays for this Providence team his overall impact would skyrocket. In the end Wesley Cardet is a good player that could be great if he is given the right coaching and system. Hopefully Kim English and providence are just what he needs to take that next step. Either way Providence has found a well above average Big East starter that is no doubt going to help them for this year.