With all the hoopla surrounding Joson Sanon, Mikel Brown Jr., Jamier Jones, and Efeosa Oliogu (rightly so, for what it is worth), it is easy for casual fans to forget about the recruitment of 2025 Four Star Wing Jaylen Harrell. At The Providence Crier, we couldn’t feel any more different, as we see a bonafide All-Conference type wing in Harrell. The 6’6 Massachusetts native playing for CATS Academy in Braintree is a natural scorer adept at scoring off the dribble and from deep.
We detail Harrell’s play style below, discuss his recruitment, and provide player comps.
Recruiting Landscape – New England
While it is great to see English get recruits to visit from all over the U.S. (and globally, Mr. Bonke), I do think it’s imperative for a coach to prioritize recruiting locally, wherever he may be. A good coach puts a “fence” up around the local recruiting region, as those players traditionally are more inclined to play for the home school. Landing Harrell sends a message that local elite recruits can stay home and play at PC.
Anybody who follows high school hoops knows that the New England high school and prep basketball scene is littered with blue chip prospects. If English can land “local” recruits who call New England their home, it makes his life easier and increases the likelihood of program success, in my opinion.
English has already done a hell of a job with landing local talent with Massachusetts native Ryan Mela in the 2024 class, as well as with 2025 commit Oswin from Putnam Science Academy. Given the proximity of PSA to Providence and multitude of D1 players there annually, I’d love to see the Oswin commitment turn that prep program into a feeder school for PC. Paging Ben Ahmed, but I digress…
One only needs to look at Kur Teng, Bryce Dortch, George Turkson, and Andre Mills of Mass Rivals in the 2024 class to see that Providence can essentially recruit within New England and build a Top 25 team. I’m not asking English to exclusively do that, but the point I’m making is you don’t have to travel far to build an elite recruiting class if you are the Providence head coach. Talent is everywhere in your backyard, and Harrell is a shining example of that. Most important, New England kids grow up familiar with the Big East and its appeal. We can’t say that for kids who grew up in other states, such as North Carolina…
In any other recruiting year, Harrell would be the apple of many school’s eye. The consensus Top 100 recruit has the prerequisite body type of a pro wing with the skill set to match. The lack of fanfare around PC’s recruitment has more to do with the plethora of 5 star, Top 25 type kids visiting Friartown than anything do with Harrell the prospect.
While Harrell’s recruiting ranking isn’t that of a five star, the PC staff is recruiting him as one. They are highly prioritizing Harrell’s recruitment, visiting him multiple times during the AAU and High School season. Jaylen will be visiting Providence officially for the UConn home game, and I know English would love to add the versatile wing to the 2025 recruiting class alongside Oswin Erhunmwunse.
Ranking Overview
Harrell is ranked as the #1 player in Massachusetts for the Class of 2025. For perspective, Ryan Mela is the #8 player in Massachusetts in an admittedly loaded 2024 Class.
The 247 Industry Ranking, which aggregates the individual rankings of a few recruiting services, has Jaylen Harrell as the 91st overall player and consensus 4 star. As I’ve written in my “Recruiting Rankings Matter” articles, which you can find below, it’s not necessarily just landing 1 or 2 Top 50 recruits. It’s landing said recruits and augmenting the roster with recruiting the 51-150 range.
Recruiting Competition
Harrell has an interesting list of suitors. Rutgers is deep in the mix, as Steve Pikell has been dipping his toes of recent into New England with Bryce Dortch the 2024 signee and Gavin Griffiths the 2023 signee. It’s an astute move on his part if you were to ask me (which you aren’t).
Xavier is another school heavily in pursuit of the 2025 wing. Desmond Claude, the Xavier standout, is a New England native who the Musketeers plucked away from the local schools. He attended Putnam Science, for what it’s worth. That stings.
As of this writing, I would say those three schools are the lead pack. Harrell has an Alabama offer, which speaks volumes to his playing ability. I’ll trust a Nate Oats evaluation any day of the week. They don’t seem to be putting the full court press on Harrell, which could play to the favor of the Friars.
Analyzing Jaylen Harrell’s Game
I watch Harrell’s game and automatically think about A.J. Reeves. The body type and size are close in similarity, with both possessing an NBA physical frame from the wing.
Reeves may be a bit springier and more athletic than Harrell, which is no knock on Jaylen. Reeves never really developed a strong handle, which still frustrates me to no end, so we only got to see his athleticism in small spurts.
Harrell seems more willing to mix it up in the post and is more adept at finishing in traffic. He uses his height and size to his advantage, finishing over defenders smaller than him.
He has a quick release from deep and can fill it up offensively with the three ball, mid range, and near the rim.
Fit with Providence
Kim English wants to play with pace and space, and he needs shooters to do that. Harrell fits this mold to a tee. Harrell will be a 2 or 3 offensively in college. English will draw up half court sets for Harrell coming off screens to hit the deep ball.
Harrell will be a menace in transition too, finishing in transition or burying a deep ball as he flares out to the wing or as a trailer in the secondary break.
Harrell has elite size at the wing, which will help acclimate him defensively in the Big East. I’m not sure if he has the foot speed to guard the undersized two guards, but he can match most 2’s or 3’s defensively. In a pinch, he can be the small ball 4 defender.
What’s Next
We’ll have a really good idea of where this recruitment stands post his official visit in early March. Adding Harrell to the 2025 class alongside Oswin would be spectacular.
English’s needs after this year are shooters and size in the frontcourt.
He has done a great job thus far filling the size quota. He now needs to land a few more sharpshooters to the roster.
If you were to ask me who is the next recruit to commit to Providence, I’d either say Jamier Jones or Jaylen Harrell, with the slight edge to Harrell. Providence has put itself in a fantastic position for the local recruit, and I can’t wait to hear how the official visit goes.
Providence Crier Recruiting Articles
Crier Recruiting Corner – Introducing Jamier Jones – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2024/02/19/crier-recruiting-corner-taking-a-look-at-oak-ridges-jamier-jones-25/
The Week of the Frontcourt – Turning a Weakness into a Strength – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2024/01/14/the-week-of-the-frontcourt-turning-a-weakness-into-a-strength/
Providence Lands 2025 Big Oswin Erhunmwunse – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2024/01/11/providence-lands-elite-big-man-oswin-erhunmwunse-analyzing-the-commitment/
Introducing 7’2 JuCo Recruit Anton Bonke –https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/12/19/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-72-center-anton-bonke/
Recruiting Rankings Matter, Part 2: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/12/06/recruiting-rankings-matter-part-2-how-far-is-the-roster-talent-from-championship-quality/
Recruiting Rankings Matter, Part 1: https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/11/29/the-providence-crier-recruiting-feature-recruiting-rankings-matter-part-1/
Rankings Do Matter: Analyzing the Final Four Rosters by Recruiting Rankings – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2021/04/03/stars-in-fact-do-matter-analyzing-the-final-4-rosters-relative-to-recruiting-rankings/
2025 Recruiting Primer, Version 3.0 – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/04/30/2025-providence-college-high-school-recruiting-primer-version-1-0/
2024 Recruiting Primer, Version 8.0 – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/03/27/providence-college-basketball-recruiting-class-of-2024/
2024 Luke Bamgboye – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/09/18/crier-recruiting-corner-introducing-2024-big-man-luke-bamgboye/
Eli DeLaurier Commits to Providence & Reclassifies – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/09/06/eli-delaurier-reclassifies-and-joins-friars-for-upcoming-season/
Ryan Mela Commits to Providence –https://theprovidencecrier.com/2023/08/01/friars-add-3-star-wing-ryan-mela-to-2024-recruiting-class/
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