As I wrote in our most recent mailbag, freshman Stefan Vaaks might be the toughest Friar to get a gauge on heading into the 2025-26 season.

The 6’6, 20-year-old guard brings a varied skill set to Providence, with great passing acumen and the ability to get hot from deep. Knee surgery that kept him sidelined throughout the summer (he’s expected to return to full-contact play in the fall) has only made it harder to set expectations.

This could be one of the deeper Friar teams in recent memory, if all goes according to plan. Still, it’s hard to ignore Vaaks’ production against professional players, and a number of former top collegiate talents in the U.S.

He averaged 14.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 steals in the 2024 FIBA Europe Cup (where most of the footage we look at is from), and 15 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals in the Latvia-Estonia Basketball League last year. He was third team all-league in 2025.

Without seeing him in person, it’s hard to confidently say how Vaaks might translate, especially coming off injury and playing in America for the first time.

The next best thing was seeing him against comparable competition on tape. We featured Vaaks against former Friar Kalif Young earlier this summer, and today we’ll show him performing well (19 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) against a team featuring former Villanova star Phil Booth and Markis McDuffie (an 18 ppg scorer at Wichita State in 2019).

Transfer Tapes: Watch Stefan Vaaks in action against Kalif Young, Duncan Powell in a 3OT thriller at ClemsonTransfer Tapes: Watch Stefan Vaaks in action against Kalif Young, Duncan Powell in a 3OT thriller at Clemson

In the other game, Vaaks went off for 28 points on eight made 3-pointers against PAOK Thessaloniki, a team with former Seton Hall guard Shavar Reynolds and Arizona starter Cedric Henderson. Vaaks led a wild comeback that fell just short (87-85) by making 8-12 from three and turning the ball over just once in 29 minutes.

These clips include makes, misses, assists, rebounds, and some really good passes that could have been assists, but teammates missed an open jumper. You’ll also see tape of the opposition to give you a sense of the competition.

Both of these games are from the FIBA EuroCup. We’ll start with Vaaks’ game against Booth and JDA Dijon and follow that up with the 28-point effort against PAOK Thessaloniki. Vaaks is #7 in white in the first video, and #7 in blue in the second.