What Providence is getting in 2025 commit Jaylen Harrell
It didn’t take Jaylen Harrell long to make a statement at his new school last winter. After teaming with the potential top overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft in AJ Dybantsa at St. Sebastian’s the year prior, Harrell transferred to CATS Academy for the 2023-24 school year — a program that was new to NEPSAC’s challenging Class AA.
In a December matchup against Brimmer and May, Harrell went off, scoring 44 points to go along with 11 rebounds and five assists in an overtime victory. It was a game in which Harrell shot 5-11 from beyond the arc and 7-8 at the free throw line, powered his way to the rim when posting up, and knocked down mid-range fade-aways. Regardless of the difficulty, it felt as though Harrell just couldn’t miss any shot he put up on that night.
Sometimes you’re fortunate enough to catch a kid on a day when everything is dropping, and I just so happened to be there on that night. Harrell was great against a Brimmer team that eventually made it to the NEPSAC AA finals behind Texas A&M and Rutgers commits Andre Mills and Bryce Dortch. He carried that strong play over for the rest of the season.
Harrell has been a player that Friar fans have monitored closely over the past year, as he was on campus frequently and cracked the top 100 rankings in the class of 2025 by 247 Sports (94), Rivals (89), and On3.com (93).
Friartown was hopeful he would commit to Providence in late May, when he originally scheduled his college destination announcement. Those plans were put on hold for another month, with Harrell posting on X: “My college decision has been much harder than anticipated. Due to this, I will be postponing my commitment to a later date. Whatever decision I make, I want to make sure it’s the right choice for me and my family.”
This post came shortly after Harrell visited Xavier in May. He was also considering Rutgers, Kansas, Alabama, and Virginia Tech at the time.
A little over a month after his originally scheduled college announcement, the Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year confirmed he wants to be a Friar.
“I chose Providence because it felt like a family over there," Harrell told 247 Sports. “I love the coaching staff and I feel like Kim is my big brother. We feel like we have a good shot at winning a national championship.”
He continued, “We want to win a national championship or get as far as possible. A lot of people think you can't win big at Providence, and we're gonna change that when we get there. For me, I want to go to the NBA after my time at Providence. It might not be one year, it might not be two years, I'm just not rushing it and will trust the process and Kim's process.”
Harrell is a leading scorer for an Expressions Elite team that is currently 7th in their conference with a 9-6 record in Nike’s EYBL. He is averaging over 15 points (15.7) in 25.8 minutes per game. Harrell has made at least two 3-pointers in 11 of Expressions’ 16 games, hitting at 38% from beyond the arc. He is shooting 46% from the field, 86% at the free throw line, and averaging 2.9 rebounds per game. He has six steals in EYBL action. Harrell started the EYBL campaign hot, shooting 7-7 from the field against NW Rotary Rebels in the opener and 6-8 versus Arizona Unity the next time out. A 6-20 (0-8 from three) game against UPlay out of Canada on May 26 is the only thing keeping Harrell from having truly outstanding shooting numbers across the board this spring/summer.
Here is how Harrell has gotten a majority of his points for Expressions this year:
Spot up: 51 possessions, .941 points per possession (69th percentile in EYBL)
Harrell’s spot up numbers have jumped from a summer ago, when he had 72 spot up possessions and scored at a rate of .875 points per possession (56th percentile). He is capable of hitting catch and shoot jumpers when spotting up (40% shooting/80th percentile), and will also draw defenders and drive to the bucket or take one dribble to his left and let go from three when spotting up.
Post up: 39 possessions, 1.128 points per possession (79th percentile in EYBL)
Harrell has been a very good post option for Expressions across the past two summers. Playing on their U16 team in 2023, Harrell posted up 42 times and averaged 1.167 points per possession — a figure that ranked in the 93rd percentile.
He is a big-bodied wing who looks very comfortable backing players down in the post, where he has a consistent jump hook, finishes through traffic, and goes over his right shoulder at times.