Late on Wednesday afternoon, centre Christ Essandoko committed to Friartown via the transfer portal, marking another act of divine intervention. This commitment brings Christ Eassandoko and the Friars full circle. On October 2, 2021, Essandoko made her initial commitment to Providence and the prior staff as a member of the Class of 2022. Back then, he gave the Friars preference over schools like North Carolina State, Seton Hall, Georgetown, Maryland, and Illinois. After Essandoko’s June 23, 2021, visit to Providence, there were rumours that she had made a snap decision. On July 6, Quante Berry, a teammate from prep school, committed, but nothing came of the big guy. At last, following several striking autumn AAU performances, Essandoko made the announcement for the Friars.
At the time of his announcement, Essandoko was the #134 player in his class and the #3 player in North Carolina. Playing at Winston-Salem Academy in North Carolina, he averaged 17 ppg and 12 rpg a game as a junior in a Covid-shortened season, and 15 ppg, 11 rpg and 3 bpg as a senior. His NC Top 80 evaluation painted a clear picture of his strengths and weaknesses. “He’s a big, smart, strong, supremely skilled big man with size, soft hands, and incredible offensive polish. Essandoko is a lethal post-up threat with the ability to overwhelm opponents with his deep arsenal of moves, finishing ability, and pristine footwork around the basket. However, he also has the necessary tools to step out and effortlessly assert himself as a floor-spacing presence. Essandoko is an elite two-way rebounder, savvy passer, and quality overall defender with the ability to wall-up and block shots at a solid rate. Christ rebounds and looks for the long pass. He can put it on the floor to start the break and is capable of knocking down three-pointers. He must continue to improve from 15 feet. He has several post moves. Christ needs to become a great free-throw shooter. He’s an excellent passer when taking the ball on out-of-bounds sets.”
By January of his senior season, issues began to arise. A native of Paris, France, Essandoko had been a member of the 2019 U18 France national championship team, was selected freshman of the year in 2018 and named to the U18 EuroLeague Junior First Team. However, transcript issues arose and Essandoko sat out the second half of his senior season at Winston-Salem to work on his academics. When it became apparent that he would not be able to fulfill his requirements in time, Providence released him from his commitment.
St. Joseph’s swooped in and nabbed the promising young center. Essandoko sat out the 2022-23 season to work on his academics and fulfil the NCAA eligibility requirements and made his debut as a redshirt freshman in 2023-24. The Friars faced St. Joe’s in a secret scrimmage in early October and Essandoko cooked the Friars for 20 points. At 7’0 tall and 285 pounds, he was an imposing figure in Atlantic-10 play and had a solid rookie season despite battling a toe injury all year.
He had nine points and ten rebounds in his college debut against Penn, had nine points and nine rebounds against Kentucky, had 12 points and eight rebounds against Saint Louis, 21 points and 12 rebounds against Duquesne, 15 rebounds versus George Mason, 16 points and nine boards against La Salle, and 14 points and eight rebounds in an NIT loss to Seton Hall, and was named Atlantic-10 Rookie of the Week on February 5. For the season, Essandoko hit 71-142 from the field for 50 percent, 14-38 from three for a .368 percentage, and averaged 8.2 ppg and 5.7 rpg. He added 27 blocks and 38 assists in 25 games, with 15 starts, playing 21 minutes per game.
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