Friar Basketball Newsletter: Providence to play in the Bahamas in 2024, recruiting the class of 2025, Oswin standing out at Pangos All American camp, and more

News and notes from around Friartown…

1. The non-conference schedule of the Friars drastically improved after news broke that Providence will be part of the Battle 4 Atlantis next November. The tournament, played in the Bahamas from Nov. 27-29, also includes Arizona, Davidson, Gonzaga, Indiana, Louisville, Oklahoma and West Virginia. This event is one of the biggest of the non-conference schedule nationally, and will provide PC with tremendous exposure. Last season, Villanova knocked off Texas Tech, North Carolina, and Memphis on their way to the title.

Gonzaga, Indiana, Arizona, and Providence could all conceivably be top-25 teams heading into next season.

2. We’re in what might be the quietest portion of the offseason (now that the portal has made late March through early May a wild dash), with the focus shifting toward rounding out the high school recruiting class of 2025.

Providence has secured a commitment from a top-30 player in the class in wing Jamier Jones, and now the focus shifts to filling two spots: point guard and shooting wing. Jones’ Oak Ridge (FL) teammate, Jalen Reese, looks to be the best bet at point guard, while Massachusetts scorer Jaylen Harrell pushed back his scheduled May announcement and said he is opening his recruitment up a bit. Providence is still in pursuit of Harrell.

One local name that has exploded this summer is Ryder Frost, a shooter out of Philips Exeter who cracked On3.com’s top 100 players in the class of 2025 after lighting it up for Middlesex Magic this spring. Frost went from well under the radar to receiving offers from the likes of Miami, Wisconsin, Boston College, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, NC State, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska this spring. Middlesex Magic is the same program that produced PC class of 2024 commit Ryan Mela.

3. Providence went from one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country in 2022-23 to bottom tier a season ago, as Kim English focused more on transition defense than attacking the offensive glass. According to Ken Pomeroy, PC ranked 16th in the country in offensive rebounding percentage two years ago — a number that dropped to 255th last season.

Look for that to change next season, with an added emphasis on getting second chance opportunities. The return of Bryce Hopkins will give Providence more athleticism, size, and rebounding at the four spot, while St. Joe’s transfer Christ Essandoko grabbed 1.6 offensive rebounds in just over 20 minutes per game.

Out of the four number one seeds in last year’s NCAA Tournament, three were ranked in the top twelve nationally in offensive rebound percentage (Purdue, Connecticut, and Houston).

4. Providence commit Oswin Erhunmwunse is playing at the Pangos All American camp this week, and playing well. In a pair of games this week Oswin scored 30 points with 15 rebounds, while shooting 13-17 between the two games.

Oswin is ranked 21st in the class of 2025 by On3.com, while Jamier Jones comes in at #38.

5. Throughout the summer we will plan to send condensed recaps of Oak Ridge’s games from the past season to give Friar fans a closer look at Jamier Jones.

Jones and Oak Ridge won their first ever Iolani Classic in Hawaii last year, when they beat Christ the King out of New York in the title game. Jones led Oak Ridge with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Iowa State commit Dwayne Pierce was terrific with 23 points.

Jones provided some highlight reel finishes in this one:

6. Richard Coren was kind enough to send me a copy of his new book “Road to Glory” which goes into great detail about each season of Providence College basketball — to the point where recaps from virtually every game from every season are included. The book will make a great reference point for me as a writer when I want to look back into specific seasons, and Friars fans will enjoy reflecting on great games and players of the past. I was also thrilled to see our dear friend Craig Leighton acknowledged in the book. Craig was a longtime poster on Richard’s Scout Friars message board, and I always thought the two of them would have had a great podcast telling stories about the history of the program.

Richard’s book can be found here: https://store.bookbaby.com/book/road-to-glory-the-providence-college-basketball-story

7. Prior to Corey Floyd Jr.’s junior season of high school, he won a Peach Jam title playing on a very talented Team Final group. Floyd and Otega Oweh were the main guard/wing players, but what made them so difficult to play against was their outstanding interior duo.

Jalen Duren was considered by many to be the top prospect in the class of 2022 before enrolling at Memphis, and this past season he averaged over 13 points and 11 rebounds as a 20-year-old playing for the Detroit Pistons.

Their other big man, Dereck Lively, spent some time ranked #1 in the class of 2022 as well. Lively became a top prospect as one of the best shot blockers in the country at 7’1, but he also stretched the floor and made shots from beyond the arc.

After injuries slowed him in his one season at Duke, Lively went 12th overall to the Mavericks last year and has been a revelation in the playoffs as a rim protector, rebounder, and lob finisher.

Floyd will have a rooting interest when his friend takes to the floor against the Celtics in the NBA Finals, while the Mavericks also have God Shammgod on their bench as an assistant. Shammgod has known Mavs point guard Kyrie Irving since Irving was just ten years old.