captions:

 

left:

Tanahj Pettway

 

right:

Nate Patenaude 

 

By Ron P. Coderre

As the 2015-2016 school year draws to a close basketball recruiting activity is heating up at Putnam Science Academy for the upcoming 2016-2017 year.  The recent announcement by the school that they’ll have a varsity team as well as a postgraduate unit is keeping coach Tom Espinosa and the admissions office busy.  

Two players from Southern New England with outstanding credentials will grace the Maple Street in September.

The latest additions to the Mustangs stable are former Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Mass., combo guard Tanahj Pettway and 6-foot, 5-inch lefthanded forward Nate Patenaude from Smithfield High School in Rhode Island.

Pettway, who comes from a long line of standout basketball players from the Worcester area, has spent the last two seasons at Central Catholic and will arrive in Putnam as a sophomore.  He’s a 6-foot, 160-pound quick, athletic, explosive guard with the ability to take over a game.

“Tanahj is a dynamic player who is a magician with the basketball.  He can do a number of things extremely well, including dishing the rock as well as scoring.  A great student, who excels in the classroom, he’s capable of transferring his intelligence on the court,” said Espinosa.

As a sophomore at Central Catholic Pettway was named the Most Valuable Player of the Commonwealth Christmas Classic and was named to the MVC All-Conference team and nominated as New England State Association All-Underclassmen 1st team.

A varsity performer since his freshman year, Pettway led his team in scoring with 16.7 points per game, to go with 4.5 assists and four rebounds a contest.  

During the summer he plays AAU for coach Vinny Pastore and the Mass Rivals of Boston.

Patenaude was a four-year starter at Smithfield, where he played for coach Joe Bennett.  

Last season, he averaged 17 points a game to go with four rebounds and three blocks a contest.  He was named to the Rhode Island All-State team after leading Smithfield to a 20-4 record.

“Nate is a very active inside player who can score in a number of ways.  His year at Putnam Science Academy will help him as a player and student.  We’re looking forward to assisting him in his development,” said coach Espinosa.

Along with the addition of Dan Porcic who transferred from Putnam High School, and Liam Jacobs from Plainfield, who’s committed as a postgraduate, the Mustangs now have four recruits with local connections.