Kevin Stacom — English’s Recruiting Haul at PC Is Top-Tier Nationally

Kevin Stacom — English’s Recruiting Haul at PC Is Top-Tier Nationally

It’s beginning to get a little redundant, and usually, when you hear that word, it is used to connote something negative, as in boringly repetitive or unimaginatively predictable. But not at all in this case. The word came to mind because once again, in the relatively short time he’s been running the show at PC, Kim English has succeeded in successfully recruiting elite players.

 

We know he can recruit out of the portal. 

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Providence College men’s basketball program announced last week that they had secured the commitment from another top nationally ranked recruit, Jaylen Harrell, a 6’6” 210lb Forward from Boston via CATS Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts. Harrell will join another highly rated player Jamier Jones, a 6’6” 205lb forward from Orlando, Florida, (ranked #16 by ESPN) Jaylen Harrell was named Gatorade Player of the Year in Massachusetts Averaging 24 pts, 7.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists/ game in his junior year. 

           

Harrell's commitment is significant in a couple of ways First of all, if you look at the caliber of schools that Harrell had narrowed down his choices to - Xavier, Rutgers, Kansas, Alabama, and Virginia Tech- Coach English is competing and winning against some of the top programs and conferences in the country In this instance, the Big East, Big 12, SEC, and the ACC. 

           

What added a bit of an exclamation point to Harrell’s final announcement was the added drama and suspense due to the fact that he delayed his decision from the scheduled date in order to make a last-minute visit to rival Xavier. To eventually hang in there and win against such an experienced and successful coach as Sean Miller, who during his last 12 years at Arizona was always projected to be a Final 4 threat, speaks for itself. 

           

The other significant factor in Harrell’s recruitment is the AAU program that he plays for, Expressions Elite. This program was founded by an interesting and successful businessman who founded a chain of athletic footwear stores by the same name- Expressions. Todd Quarles started his business about 33 years ago and expanded his mini-empire to 35 stores. That business success allowed him to indulge his real passion, basketball. So, about 20 years ago, he was able to transfer some of those entrepreneurial skills to establish his own AAU team. 

         

I would regularly run into Todd at various Basketball events through the years, and he was always very open and clear about his thoughts on players(especially local) and the game in general Very knowledgeable, and it was always fun to connect with another junkie with so much enthusiasm for the game. 

             

I was able to catch up with him recently as he was preparing his team for the Peach Jam tournament this week in South Carolina. He explained to me how you had to qualify for this tournament so some of the best teams and talent in the country will be there. We touched upon many topics including how it’s changed from the playgrounds being the main initiation rite and arena for player development to the more controlled environment of AAU team practices in gymnasiums along with personal skill training coaches.

 

Since a lot of this new system involves money to participate, Todd is always on the lookout for those kids who show some desire and aptitude that might not have the ability to pay. He told me how, over the years, he’s established strong relationships with some of the top Prep schools in New England, which have for a long time been the incubators for some of the top talent in the country. His program is centered at the CATS  Academy in Braintree and includes young players from high school age all the way down to the 6th-grade level (soon to include 4th and 5th grade). Some of the program’s more recent notable participants include players such as Cooper Flagg (as an 8th grader from Maine) heading to Duke and ranked as a possible #1 pick in next year’s NBA draft, Matas Buzelis, the 11th pick by Chicago in this year’s draft, Alex Karaban starting forward for NCAA Champ UConn, and Bensley Joseph who will play this year at PC after entering the portal from Miami. 

         

In terms of his valued opinion of Harrell’s game, he said he was a “bucket getter”- very strong and physical, can really shoot the ball (41% from 3 in last 89 attempts in high-level EBYL Nike tournaments), knows how to post up from midrange vs smaller defenders, improving shot creating ball handling skills, knows how to play with high BBall IQ and passing skills Another great fit for Coach English’s stated preferred style of play.

 

As all this pertains to coach English’s recent recruitment success in general and the specific success of attaining Harrell’s commitment, Quarles’ observation was that the coach was relating well to these young players on a lot of levels He added that when acquiring all this talent, translates into wins it should be an explosive combination. 

             

To put this PC  recruiting class of 2025 in even more perspective, if Oswin Erhunmwunse didn’t reclassify from the 25 class to the 24 class, he, along with Jamier Jones and Jaylen Harrell, would have been one of the top classes in the nation. 

             

Kim English’s approach is proving to have a wide appeal, but this signing also indicates that he is firmly putting his stake in the ground and establishing that he and the Providence program are a force to be reckoned with in terms of competing for the best talent in the New England area. Look, for instance, how two key starters for UConn’s championship teams came from less than an hour’s drive from their campus- Donovan Clingan and Alex Karaban. It’s important to take care of your own backyard, and Kim English is well on his way to doing that.