After seeing the many of the elite Boston-area prospects go away to other schools in recent years, Keno Davis has landed two of the city's very best for his Providence College program.

Three weeks ago the Friars secured a verbal commitment from Gerard Coleman, a high-scoring guard who's starred for the Boston Amateur Basketball Club AAU program for several years. Friday, the Friars locked up Coleman's friend and teammate, burly 6-6 forward Ron Giplaye.

Giplaye, a Lowell native who moved to Delaware and now attends Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass., has liked the Friars for a while. Friday he committed for good after also hearing from George Washington, Arizona and other colleges. Scouts have compared Giplaye's aggressive playing style with that of another former Boston star, UConn's Jeff Adrien.

"I had Jeff Adrien and Ron's that type of player. He makes people's lives miserable," said Ryan Hurd, Giplaye's coach at Notre Dame Prep. "He's strong; he's like a man playing with boys. Guys back down from him."

The BABC program produces some of the premier talent in New England. Former PC players Jonathan Kale and Charles Burch are BABC alumns. Last year's top players -- Alex Orhiaki and Jamal Coombs -- are both headed to UConn. Those two combined with Coleman and Giplaye to win several national tournaments over the last few years, but this summer Coleman and Giplaye are the top dogs. At a Memorial Day event in Atlanta, Giplaye rolled to 20 points and 20 rebounds in one game against Jared Sullinger, a top 10 prospect headed to Ohio State.

Leo Papile, the Boston Celtics' personnel chief and longtime BABC coach, also raved about Giplaye's skills.

"He's the best low-post scorer we have ever had in our program other than Mike Bradley," Papile told the New England Recruiting Report, referring to the former Villanova star and NBA first-round draft pick. "His body of work over his career has been transient. He has such a knack for scoring in the low post, his rebounding numbers are uncanny, and he's a big guy who retrieves his own misses."

With Coleman and Giplaye in tow, the Friars are expected to further turn up the heat on the best post prospect they can find. The top priority is clearly Carson Desrosiers, a 6-10 center from Lawrence, Mass. PC's Davis will be shadowing Desrosiers at AAU events the rest of this month.

kmcnamar@projo.com