Providence College may be well into the process of creating its next men’s basketball recruiting class by the end of this month.
The Friars already have a commitment from a 2025 prospect and could receive two more before the calendar turns to June. The first could arrive as early as Sunday afternoon.
Jamier Jones will make his selection live on Instagram, and he was set to begin a last visit to Providence over the weekend. Jaylen Harrell is slated to pledge on May 27, and the Friars are among his final six schools of choice.
Jones is the type of national prospect who can move the needle. Harrell was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Massachusetts and the type of local talent Providence needs to keep at home on a regular basis. Both have paid official trips here, and combining the two would be a big signal for Friars coach Kim English, who has only been in his new position for a year.
Jones was hoping to beat Milwaukee in November and had narrowed his list to the Friars, Ohio State, Houston, LSU, South Carolina, and Kansas by late April. He’s a Florida-based athletic small forward regarded as a top-35 national talent. Jones also received offers from Michigan, Cincinnati, Kansas State, Illinois, Texas A&M, Missouri, Texas, Ole Miss, and Indiana, however none of these programmes made the final cut.
Harrell attended at least two games last season, including losses to Villanova and Connecticut, which helped keep Providence out of the March Madness tournament. He is a consensus top-105 national talent with grassroots ties to Expressions Elite, a well-known local Nike circuit entry. Harrell is also considering Rutgers, Wake Forest, Alabama, Virginia Tech, and Xavier; he has eliminated Washington, Georgetown, and Massachusetts from his final list.
Being able to consistently recruit four-year players like this has been the Friars’ long-term ambition since they began putting genuine administrative power behind previous coach Ed Cooley. His freshman recruiting record was a little more difficult than one might think from a programme that went to seven NCAA Tournaments and won the Big East regular season and tournament championships throughout his tenure. Providence had some elite hits and some huge misses before Cooley — who later added a handful of major acquisitions via the transfer portal, including Bryce Hopkins, Devin Carter, Jared Bynum, Al Durham, and Justin Minaya — made his unexpected departure for Georgetown.
Kris Dunn and city native Ricky Ledo, who never played college basketball, were a pair of lightning bolts in the early 2010s. Brandon Austin, a top-50 commitment the following year, was suspended by school administration due to off-court sexual assault charges before leaving for Oregon. Providence waited several years before bringing in similar quality – Makai Ashton-Langford, city native David Duke, and AJ Reeves comprised the next generation of top-60 players in the late 2010s.
NEWS: 2025 four-star wing Jaylen Harrell will announce his college decision on May 27th, he tells @On3Recruits.
The 6-6 junior has scheduled an official visit for later this month and is working on another: https://t.co/eyFce17PHh pic.twitter.com/VdsU1GSOVI
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) May 8, 2024
Jones would be English’s third top-50 commit in just 14 months, following 2023 guard Garwey Dual and 2025 big man Oswin Erhunmwunse. Dual initially committed to Cooley, but reopened his recruitment and recommitted to English before making an uneven college debut in 2023-24. Erhunmwunse could end up being a candidate for the 2024 class, taking the Friars’ sole remaining scholarship this cycle.
Providence made a significant shift towards the 2025 group following a couple missed opportunities in 2024. Ryan Mela, a Massachusetts winger, committed early and will join the Friars in the fall. Baltimore point player Daquan Davis has committed, reopened his recruitment, and will play for Florida State next season.
That was it for possible first-year players. Joson Sanon, a highly sought-after shooting guard from Fall River, has committed to Arizona following a protracted recruiting process that included Providence. Frontcourt players Somto Cyril (Kentucky, then Georgia after John Calipari departed the Wildcats), Patrick Ngongba II (Duke), and Isaiah Abraham (Connecticut) all visited college before departing.
Throughout the 2023-24 season, the Friars relied on their personnel, facilities, and a lively, game-night atmosphere at Amica Mutual Pavilion to entertain no fewer than a dozen different prospects behind their bench. Jones and Harrell were joined by Tee Bartlett, Bryson Tiller, and Efeosa Oliogu, all frontcourt players. Backcourt targets Nigel James, Mikel Brown Jr., and Lino Mark were among those noticed during a 21-14 season that earned them an NIT berth.
Providence will have plenty of holes to fill after next season. Hopkins and incoming transfers Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Wesley Cardet Jr., and Bensley Joseph are all about to run out of eligibility. Jones and Harrell appear to be players who would contend for minutes vacated by Hopkins, Abdur-Rahim, and Cardet.
English made a big statement at George Mason by signing Justyn Fernandez, a top-100 recruit who stayed in Virginia and is expected to make his debut with the Friars in 2024-25. He was linked to some other high-profile targets while with the Patriots, but moving from the Atlantic 10’s middle to a conference that has won four of the last eight national titles is a different ballgame. Providence anticipated that English’s reputation as a relationship builder, ability to gather some strong bench lieutenants, and open playing style would make him an appealing destination for prep athletes.