Providence Crier Player Preview – Jamier Jones: The Next Kim English All-Big East Freshman?

Kim English has put forth in his two years at Providence three All Big East Freshman. First, it was Rich Barron. Then, it was Ryan Mela and Oswin Erhunmwunse. Is Jamier Jones next in line to earn All-Conference recognition?

Jamier was a massive recruiting win for Providence, as we detailed in the below article. English was able to pluck the Top 50 nationally ranked recruit from The Sunshine State and SEC Territory. This is a rare land for Providence.

Five Star Jamier Jones Commits to Providence: How Kim English Has Obliterated the National Recruiting Narrative Around Providence

In years prior, unrealistic expectations would be thrust onto a true freshman of his caliber. Remember Gerard Coleman? It wasn’t long ago where Providence was asking the world of their freshman recruits to lift up an entire basketball program.

Due to the transfer portal being more prevalent, English and staff can ask Jamier to fit into a specific role and augment the roster rather than carry it. It is a sign of a healthy program that you don’t have to ask your freshman to be a starter and immediate contributor.

So, where does Jones fit into this 2025-2026 roster? We break down our expectations below.

Keys to a Successful Season

Providence knows without a doubt it has its starting 3/4 of the future in Jamier – This one is straightforward. Three of the players Jamier is competing with for time this year lose eligibility in Floyd Jr., Sellers, and Powell. If Jamier shows enough to know he’ll be the starting 3 or 4 next year, that’s a successful season.
Jamier shows sign of development in his halfcourt offensive game as the season progresses – We all know Jamier can rim run and open it up in transition. How does Jamier operate in a college game in a half court offensive set? How does his mid range jumper and three pointer look? If we see consistent, incremental improvement in all the above as the season marches on, that’d be a great sign.
Jones forces his way onto the court due to his explosiveness in the open court and ability to generate offense in transition – Jamier is likely the most athletic player on this roster, including Oswin. Relegating him to the bench because he’s not a refined offensive player in half court sets would be coaching malpractice by English. Jamier has the ability to be instant offense in transition and is a highlight reel waiting to happen. You live with him not being a savvy offensive player at this juncture because he brings an intangible in the open court that nobody else truly possesses on the roster.
Jamier’s athleticism translates to the defensive end where he can be a Swiss Army knife on defense guarding the 2-4 position – We saw Providence get picked on too much defensively last year, and I think it’s because the roster lacked high end Big East athletes. Jamier is the prototype for positionless basketball on the defensive end. I’m hopeful he can use his raw athleticism to emerge on the defensive end where his size, speed, and physicality give him the potential to guard the 2-4 positions.

Estimated minutes per game: 12-15 minutes. I think he ends up closer to 15 minutes.

Summary

In my years at Providence under Welsh and Keno Avis (No D), a recruit like Jamier Jones would never enroll at Providence. If he somehow did choose Providence, the world was expected of him to be the savior of the basketball program. We’re light years away from those dark ages, and we now have a roster that allows Jamier to slowly get acclimated to high level college basketball. Barring injury, he won’t be thrust into playing 20-25 minutes each night, and that is certainly a good thing for his long term future.

Kevin Stacom on Jamier Jones:

Jones is an NBA athlete.

Without a lot of effort, it seems half his body is above the rim.#PCBC #PCBB #Friars
(golocalprov) pic.twitter.com/eaivfEhpb2
— Friar News (@FriarFlashbacks) August 9, 2025

Jamier can learn under Floyd, Mela, Sellers, and Powell on how to be a wing/forward at the Big East level. The tutelage under these veterans may not show instantaneously this year, but Providence and Jamier will be better for it in the years to come.

I do think Jamier continues the trend of All-Freshman in the Big East and averages somewhere around 6 and 4 with about one highlight reel play a game. While their games are dissimilar, a trajectory like Ben Bentil wouldn’t be too far fetched where Bentil slowly came onto the scene before an explosive All Conference sophomore year. Bentil was a 6 and 5 guy on 21 minutes his freshman year before averaging 21 and 8 his sophomore year.

season 4❤️ friartown let’s do it now! pic.twitter.com/Znz9pjPABE
— Jamier Jones (@_thejamierjones) February 25, 2025

Patience is a virtue with Jamier for Friar fans. You cannot and should not expect him to be a finished product as an 18 year old. What we do have is a ball of clay that is hard to come by. Jamier is probably in the 1% of athletes in the Big East. They need Jamier to not exclusively rely on his athleticism and work on the other aspects of his game (shooting, playing in a structured set, defense) to unlock his full potential.

I’m extremely excited to see Jones in a Friar uniform, as athletes like him don’t come around often in Friartown. We’re probably a year away from Jamier being a lock in the starting 5, but I think he’s going to show us enough to know the future is bright with him at that wing/hybrid forward spot.

Providence may be able to go into next year with its starting 5 all on the roster this year in Davis, Barron/Harrell/Vaaks, Mela, Jones, and Oswin. That’s a great place to be.

It will be fun to watch him in a supporting role this year knowing his time is coming. This is how elite programs operate.