Stefan Vaaks is going to enter the transfer portal with the intention to continue his college basketball career at a school that isn’t Providence. His departure should not come as a surprise.
The Estonian shooting guard made his plans extremely clear when committed to the Friars.
Vaaks insulted his soon-to-be former college basketball program before he even arrived to campus. He only chose to play for Providence in the first place because the team was not very good.
Who is Stefan Vaaks?
Vaaks was one of the more interesting international prospects to make the move stateside last season. At 6-foot-7, 212 pounds, he averaged 15.2 points per game in two years of professional basketball with Viimsi and BC Kalev of the Estonian-Latvian League and the Korvpalli Meistriliiga.
The Tabasalu, Estonia-native received All-Korvpalli Meistriliiga and Latvian-Estonian League All-Star nods for his play, and won an Estonia League championship. He also plays for the Estonian national team.
Stefan Vaaks made the move to college basketball as a 20-year-old freshman at Providence in 2025-26. The Friars finished seventh in the Big East at 15-18 overall and head coach Kelly English got fired but the Estonian phenom lived up to the hype.
He averaged 15.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 31.5 minutes per game. His eight three-pointers during the Big East Tournament win over Butler was a conference tournament record.
Perhaps most notably, Vaaks shot 40.3% from the field and 35% from beyond the arc. It was a big first year for the Friars freshman from overseas.
Providence is not a “top university” for college basketball.
Vaaks ultimately decided not to stick around. He is going to enter the transfer portal prior to his sophomore season in search of a new opportunity.
Perhaps his decision stems only from the coaching change. Perhaps it was the plan all along.
Stefan Vaaks not-so-quietly revealed his intention to spend only one year at Providence when he committed to the program last April. His goal was to get immediate playing time.
With that in mind, Vaaks told a local Estonian news station that he chose a college basketball program that was not as good as some of his other suitors because he could get on the court right away.
“You always have to earn your [playing] minutes, but maybe going to a top university isn’t worth it in the first year — Henri Veesaar got less playing time in his first two years at Arizona. I chose a weaker school and hopefully will get on the court right away.”
Now that Vaaks showed he can hoop on a high level in the Big East, he can transfer to a “top university.” He proved he is worthy of minutes and the “top university” will likely pay him more money on top of it.