Friar Notes:<\/p>\n
*Saturday will be the BIG EAST opener for both teams and the first league game played this season.<\/p>\n
*Five of the Friars’ 11 games this season have been against power-conference opponents (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten (twice), SEC).<\/p>\n
*The Friars have registered a 20-8 mark all-time versus Butler<\/p>\n
*The Friars are 7-5 all-time at Hinkle Fieldhouse.<\/p>\n
*The Friars posted a 1-2 mark last season versus Butler, inlcuding a 0-1 mark at Hinkle Fieldhouse.<\/p>\n
*Jaylin Sellers<\/a> was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll after averaging 17.5 pts and 6.5 rbs last week.<\/p>\n *Jaylin Sellers<\/a> has made 30 of 34 free throw attempts and ranks second in the BIG EAST (88.2 %).<\/p>\n *The Friars lxead the BIG EAST in scoring (90.0 ppg), free-throw percentage (79.1, 189-239) and defensive rebounds per game (28.7).<\/p>\n *Stefan Vaaks<\/a> had 10 points and 10 assists in the Friars’ win over FDU on Dec. 2.<\/p>\n *Jason Edwards<\/a> has been named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll twice this season.<\/p>\n *Jason Edwards<\/a> has scored 20 or more points in five of the team’s 11 games – his five games with 20 or more points is the most of any player in the BIG EAST this season.<\/p>\n *Jason Edwards<\/a> ranks second overall in scoring (18.0 ppg) in the BIG EAST.<\/p>\n *Oswin Erhunmwunse<\/a> had 12 blocks in two games last week (six vs. FDU and six vs URI).<\/p>\n *Oswin Erhunmwunse<\/a> ranks first in the BIG EAST with 37 blocks through 11 games (3.4 bpg).\u00a0<\/p>\n *Jamier Jones<\/a> has come off the bench to score 34 points in the last two games (18 vs. URI, 16 vs. Brown).<\/p>\n *Stefan Vaaks<\/a> was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Nov. 10 as he averaged 18 points, shooting 38.9 percent (7-18) from three-point range in two games.<\/p>\n *The Friars were picked fourth of 11 teams in the 2025-26 Preseason BIG EAST Coaches Poll.<\/p>\n *Jason Edwards<\/a> (Atlanta, Ga.) is one of the 20 players named to the Naismith Starting 5 – Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List.\u00a0<\/p>\n *Jason Edwards<\/a> (Second Team) and Oswin Erhunmwunse<\/a> (Third Team) were named Preseason All-BIG EAST.<\/p>\n *The Friars have 10 newcomers and five returnees on the roster this season.<\/p>\n *The Friars are 648 -249 (.722) all-time at the Amica Mutual Pavilion.<\/p>\n Friars Versus Butler: The Providence Friars and the Butler Bulldogs will be playing for the 29th time on Dec. 13. PC holds a 20-8 edge in the series, including a 7-5 mark on the road versus the Bulldogs. The last time the two teams met, Butler defeated the Friars, 75-69, in the BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 12, 2025.\u00a0 The last time the two teams played at Hinkle Fieldhouse, the Bulldogs recorded an 82-81 win on February 8, 2025.\u00a0 The Friars’ most recent victory over Butler was a 84-65 win on January 8, 2025 in Providence.<\/p>\n Friars Defeat Brown On Tuesday:\u00a0 The Providence College men’s basketball team defeated the Brown University Bears, 86-79, on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I. Graduate student Jaylin Sellers<\/a> (Columbus, Ga.) and freshman Jamier Jones<\/a> (Sarasota, Fla.) each scored 16 points for the Friars. Three other Providence players ended with double figures in scoring: graduate student Jason Edwards<\/a> (Atlanta, Ga.) (12), Freshman Stefan Vaaks<\/a> (Tabasalu, Estonia) (10) and sophomore Ryan Mela<\/a> (Natick, Mass.) (10). \u00a0<\/p>\n Sellers Named To The BIG EAST Honor Roll:\u00a0 Graduate student Jaylin Sellers<\/a> (Columbus, Ga.) averaged 17.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists as the Friars posted a 2-0 mark last week.\u00a0 For his efforts, he was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll on Dec. 8.\u00a0 For the week he was 12-15 (.800) from the field, including 7-9 (.778) from three and 4-4 from the line.\u00a0 In the Friars’ 94-64 win over FDU on Dec. 2, Sellers scored 21 points and shot 5-6 from three.\u00a0 In the Friars’ 90-71 win over Rhode Island, he recorded his first double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds.\u00a0 The 6-5 guard also had three assists and was 2-3 from three and 4-4 from the free-throw line. \u00a0<\/p>\n Edwards Leading the Friars In Scoring:\u00a0 Graduate student Jason Edwards<\/a> (Atlanta, Ga.) leads the team in scoring, averaging 18.0 points per game.\u00a0 His 18.0 ppg ranks second overall in the BIG EAST. \u00a0 He has scored 20 or more points five times this season – versus Virginia Tech (28 points) on Nov. 8, at Colorado (24 points) on Nov. 14, versus New Hampshire (25 points) on Nov. 18, versus Wisconsin (20 points) on Nov. 27 and versus FDU (24 points) on Dec. 2.\u00a0 \u00a0 He also is averaging 3.2 assists and 3.0 rebounds through 11 games. \u00a0<\/p>\n Sellers Is Producing On Offense: Graduate student Jaylin Sellers<\/a> (Columbus, Ga.) is second on the team in scoring, averaging 15.5 points per game.\u00a0 In the team’s win over FDU on Dec. 2, he scored 21 points.\u00a0 On Dec. 6, Sellers recorded his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Rhode Island.\u00a0 He also is averaging 4.5 rebounds per game.\u00a0 Sellers has made 30 of 34 attempts from the free-throw line and ranks second in the BIG EAST at 88.2 percent.<\/p>\n Vaaks Leads The Friars From Behind The Arc: Freshman Stefan Vaaks<\/a> (Tabasalu, Estonia) leads the Friars in three-point shooting having connected on a team-best 30\u00a0 made threes on 82 attempts (36.6 percent).\u00a0 He made a season-high five threes versus Rhode Island on Dec. 6.\u00a0 Vaaks made two threes in the final two minutes to seal the Friar win versus Penn State on Nov. 22.\u00a0 He is third\u00a0 on the team in scoring, averaging 13.5 ppg.\u00a0 He recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 assists versus FDU on Dec. 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n Vaaks Has A Productive Week For The Friars:\u00a0 Freshman guard Stefan Vaaks<\/a> (Tabasalu, Estonia) averaged 14.0 points, 7.0 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals as the Friars registered a 2-0 mark last week.\u00a0 He was 10-20 (.500) from the field and 7-14 (.500) from three.\u00a0 In the Friars’ win over FDU on Dec. 2, Vaaks recorded his first collegiate double-double with 10 points and 10 assists.\u00a0 He also added two steals and four rebounds.\u00a0 In the Friars’ win over Rhode Island on Dec. 6, Vaaks recorded 18 points, four assists and three steals.\u00a0 He was 5-10 from three, including hitting four consecutive threes and erasing a 14-2 Friar deficit to tie the game at 14-14. \u00a0<\/p>\n Erhunmwunse Leads The BIG EAST In Blocks: Sophomore Oswin Erhunmwunse<\/a> (Benin City, Nigeria) leads the BIG EAST in blocks with 37 (3.4 bpg) in 11 games.\u00a0 He also is averaging 7.4 points per game and 7.0 rebounds.<\/p>\n Aiden Derkack To Attend PC In 2026-27:\u00a0 Providence College Head Coach Kim English<\/a> announced on Nov. 12 that Aiden Derkack (Colonia, N.J.) has signed a financial aid agreement to attend Providence College in 2026-27.\u00a0 Derkack, a 6-foot-6-inch, 195-pound forward attends Spire Academy in Geneva, Ohio.\u00a0 In 2024-25, Derkack played at Colonia High School and averaged 24.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.\u00a0 In three years at Colonia, Derkack established the school’s all-time scoring record.\u00a0 During the summer of 2025, he played for Team Final on the Nike EYBL circuit.\u00a0 In 20 games for Team Final, he averaged 15.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists, while shooting 51.0 percent from the field.\u00a0 Derkack had a strong performance at Peach Jam as he concluded his AAU season.\u00a0 In five games at the Peach Jam, he averaged 21.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists.\u00a0 Derkack also shot 67.0 percent from the field.\u00a0 Derkack, a consensus four-star recruit, is the 45th ranked player in the nation and the No. 20 forward, according to ESPN.com.\u00a0 He also is ranked 52nd (fourth in his position) by 247Sports and 65th (19th in his position) by On3.\u00a0<\/p>\n Friar Legend Lenny Wilkens Passed Away On Nov. 9:\u00a0 Former Friar All-American Lenny Wilkens ’60 passed away on Nov. 9.\u00a0 Wilkens is one of the Friar all-time greats.\u00a0 In three seasons with the Friars, he scored 1,193 points in 80 games (14.9 ppg).\u00a0 He helped lead the Friars to the NIT in his junior and senior seasons.\u00a0 Wilkens was named All-American in 1959 and 1960.\u00a0 He was named MVP of the NIT in 1960. He played all three seasons as a Friar for legendary Head Coach Joe Mullaney.\u00a0 Wilkens was inducted in the Providence College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1972 and his number 14 was hung in the rafters of the Amica Mutual Pavilion in 1996.\u00a0 Upon graduating from Providence in 1960, Wilkens went on to have a long and prosperous career in the NBA as a player and a coach.\u00a0 He was the sixth overall pick in the 1960 NBA Draft when he was selected by the St. Louis Hawks.\u00a0 He would earn nine NBA All-Star selections over 15 seasons with the St. Louis Hawks (eight years), Seattle SuperSonics (four years), Cleveland Cavaliers (two years), and Portland Trail Blazers (one year).\u00a0 He also coached for 32 seasons in the NBA.\u00a0 His coaching career featured multiple stints with teams such as the Seattle SuperSonics, Portland Trail Blazers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, and New York Knicks. Over those 32 seasons, he amassed 1,332 victories.\u00a0 He guided the 1979 Seattle Supersonics to the NBA title.\u00a0 He was inducted in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame three times.\u00a0 In 1989, Wilkens was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player.\u00a0 In 1998, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a coach.\u00a0 He earned his third induction in 2009 as an Assistant Coach to 1992 USA Olympic Dream Team.<\/p>\n Vaaks Named BIG EAST Freshman Of The Week On Nov. 10:\u00a0 It was announced on Nov. 10 that Providence College freshman guard Stefan Vaaks<\/a> (Tabasalu, Estonia) was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week. Vaaks averaged 18 points, shooting 38.9 percent from three-point range as the Friars posted a 1-1 mark last week.\u00a0 In his collegiate debut on Nov. 3, Vaaks led Providence to an 89-79 home victory over Holy Cross, registering 19 points, two assists and two steals.\u00a0 He connected on three of seven attempts from beyond the three-point arc. On Nov. 8 at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off at Mohegan Sun, Vaaks recorded 17 points, three rebounds and knocked down four three-pointers in the Friars’ 107-101 overtime loss to Virginia Tech.\u00a0<\/p>\n Edwards Named To Watch List For Jerry West Shooting Guard Award:\u00a0 It was announced on Oct. 28 that Providence College graduate student Jason Edwards<\/a> (Atlanta, Ga.) was one of the 20 players named to the Naismith Starting 5 – Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List. This prestigious award honors the best shooting guards in men’s college basketball and is presented by the Basketball Hall of Fame, highlighting the elite talent in the sport.\u00a0 Also last month, Edwards was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team.\u00a0 Edwards, a 6-1, 175-pound guard, played the 2024-25 season at Vanderbilt where he started 24 of the team’s 33 games and helped the team post a 20-13 mark and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament.\u00a0 Edwards led the team in scoring (562 points\/17.0 ppg) and free throws made (143).\u00a0 He was second on the team in threes made (65) and free throw percentage (.831\/143-172).\u00a0 Edwards ranked eighth in the Southeastern Conference in scoring in overall action (17.0 ppg) and he was 13th in free-throw percentage (.831) and in three-point field goal percentage (.353\/65-184).\u00a0 He recorded 10 games with 20 or more points, including a season-high 30-point effort versus TCU on December 8, 2024.\u00a0 For his efforts, he earned All-SEC Third Team honors.<\/p>\n Edwards And Erhunmwunse Earn Preseason All-BIG EAST Honors:\u00a0 It was announced on Oct. 21 that Providence graduate student Jason Edwards<\/a> (Atlanta, Ga.) and sophomore Oswin Erhunmwunse<\/a> (Benin City, Nigeria) each earned All-BIG EAST Preseason Honors.\u00a0 Edwards, who transferred to Providence after spending the 2024-25 season at Vanderbilt, averaged 17.0 points and 2.0 rebounds last season for the Commodores.\u00a0 He was named Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team. Erhunmwunse was named to the 2025 BIG EAST All-Freshman Team after he averaged 6.8 points and 5.6 rebounds for the Friars last season. The sophomore center was named Preseason All-BIG EAST Third Team.<\/p>\n Friars Post A 1-1 Mark In Exhibition Games: The Providence College men’s basketball team posted a 1-1 record in exhibition action this season. The Friars were defeated by the Pittsburgh Panthers, 81-74, in an exhibition matchup on Sunday, Oct. 19 at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. Jason Edwards<\/a> (Atlanta, Ga.) led both teams in scoring with 19 points. Duncan Powell<\/a> (Dallas, Texas) registered a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. On Saturday, October 25, The Friars defeated the Harvard Crimson, 85-77, at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I. Edwards scored a team-high 16 points and sophomore Oswin Erhunmwunse<\/a> (Benin City, Nigeria) scored 12 points and added a game-high nine rebounds.\u00a0 Edwards led the team in scoring in the two exhibition games, averaging 17.5 points on 10-26 shooting from the field.\u00a0 Powell averaged 9.0 rebounds and 13.0 points in the two games.<\/p>\n Friars Picked Fourth In Preseason BIG EAST Coaches Poll:\u00a0 The 2025-26 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Preseason Poll was announced on Oct. 21.\u00a0 The Friars received 64 points in the poll and were selected to finish fourth of 11 teams.\u00a0 St. John’s was picked to finish first.<\/p>\n Friars In 2024-25: The Friars, who finished the regular season in eighth place in the BIG EAST with a 6-14 record, recorded a 12-20 record overall in 2024-25. Providence posted a 0-1 mark in the BIG EAST Tournament. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Friars All-Time Versus Top-25 Teams:\u00a0 The Friars have posted a 133-290 (.314) mark all-time versus top-25 teams, including a 0-1 mark this season.<\/p>\n Friars Have 10 Newcomers For 2025-26:\u00a0 Providence College Head Coach Kim English<\/a> added 10 new players to the team for 2025-26.\u00a0 Graduate students Jason Edwards<\/a> (Atlanta, Ga.), Jaylin Sellers<\/a> (Columbus, Ga.) and Duncan Powell<\/a> (Dallas, Texas) have all played at a high level.\u00a0 Edwards averaged 17.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game at Vanderbilt in 2024-25.\u00a0 Sellers, who was injured last season, averaged 15.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 2023-24 at UCF.\u00a0 Powell averaged 12.2 points and 5.4 rebounds at Georgia Tech.\u00a0 Senior Cole Hargrove<\/a> (Norristown, Pa.) comes to the Friars after spending three years at Drexel.\u00a0 In his junior season at Drexel, the 6-8 forward averaged 9.9 points and 7.5 rebounds.\u00a0 Sophomore Daquan Davis<\/a> (Baltimore, Md.) spent his freshman season at Florida State.\u00a0 The second-year point guard averaged 8.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game last season for the Seminoles.\u00a0 Freshmen Peteris Pinnis<\/a> (Salaspils, Latvia) and Stefan Vaaks<\/a> (Tabasalu, Estonia) both played in Europe last year.\u00a0 Pinnis averaged 7.2 points and 5.5 rebounds in the Latvia-Estonia Basketball League.\u00a0 Vaaks averaged 15.0 points and 3.2 rebounds in 2024-25.\u00a0 Freshmen Jaylen Harrell<\/a> (Boston, Mass.) and Jamier Jones<\/a> (Sarasota, Fla.) were both ranked in the top-100 coming out of high school.\u00a0 Harrell, the 2025 Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year, averaged 22.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.2 assists at Cambridge Arts, Technology and Science Academy.\u00a0 He was ranked in the top-100 by 247Sports (No. 85), Rivals (No. 85) and On3 (No. 88). On3 and 247Sports each ranked Harrell as the top recruit in Massachusetts for 2025.\u00a0 Jones averaged 20.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists at Oak Ridge High School.\u00a0 He was a consensus four-star recruit, was the 44th ranked player in the nation and the No. 12 forward, according to ESPN.com.\u00a0 He also ranked 37th (ninth in his position) by On3, 43rd by Rivals (15th in his position) and 45th (11th in his position) by 247Sports.\u00a0 Graduate student Jack Williams<\/a> (Ann Arbor, Mich.) joins the team as a walk-on. \u00a0<\/p>\n Friar Games On FOX, FS1, TNT, truTV, ESPN+ And Peacock: The Friar games will air nationally this season on FOX, FS1, TNT, truTV, ESPN+ and Peacock.\u00a0 It will mark the first time ever the Friars will have regular-season games televised on TNT and TruTV.<\/p>\n Friars Sell Out Season Tix Again In 2025-26: In 2023-24, the Friars sold out of season tickets at the Amica Mutual Pavilion for the first time ever.\u00a0 Again in 2025-26, the team sold its entire season ticket allotment for the arena.\u00a0 It marked the third consecutive season that the Friars sold out of season tickets.\u00a0 In 2024-25, a total of 167,978 fans watched the Friars at the AMP in 16 home games.\u00a0 It was an average of 10,499 fans – the ninth highest single season average at the AMP.\u00a0 The 2023-24 season marked the first time a complete sell out of season tickets\u00a0 occurred since the team moved to the AMP when it opened in 1972.\u00a0 As a result, the Friars had 211,147 fans watch the team play 19 games at the AMP.\u00a0 That average of 11,113 per game is the highest single-season mark in the history of the program.\u00a0 The total of 211,147 is the second highest amount of fans to watch the Friars at home in the history of the program.\u00a0 In 1991, 211,498 fans attended 20 home games at the AMP.\u00a0 The 211,147 fans in 2023-24, also marked just the second time in the history of the program that the team drew more than 200,000 fans in a single season.<\/p>\n Friars Are 116-6 In Non-Conference Home Games Over The Last 16 Years: The Friars have posted a 114-6 mark (.950) in their last 16 seasons in non-conference home games.\u00a0 The team’s six losses over the last 16 years were to Brown (77-67) on December 8, 2014, Minnesota (86-74) on November 13, 2017, UMass (79-78) on December 7, 2018, Arkansas (84-72) on March 19, 2019, Penn (81-75) on November 23, 2019 and Boston College (62-57) on March 19, 2024.\u00a0 The Friars are 39-1 in their last 40 non-conference home games (2025-26, 6-0; 2024-25, 6-0; 2023-24, 8-1; 2022-23, 7-0; 2021-22, 8-0; 2020-21, 2-0; 2019-20, 2-0).<\/p>\n Friars In Overtime:\u00a0 The Friars have recorded a 0-1 record in overtime games this season.\u00a0 They have recorded a 80-72 mark all-time in overtime games, including 10-3 in their last 13 games.\u00a0 The Friars are 8-0 in their last eight overtime games at the AMP.<\/p>\n Friars At The Amica Mutual Pavilion: All-time, the Friars have recorded a 648-249 (.721) mark in 53 seasons of games at the Amica Mutual Pavilion.\u00a0 The AMP, formerly the Providence Civic Center and the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, opened on November 3, 1972. The Friars had played their home games there for 48 consecutive seasons, prior to the 2020-21 season when the team played on campus at Alumni Hall with no fans in attendance due to the pandemic.\u00a0 PC posted a 15-2 mark at the AMP in 2022-23 and a 16-1 record in 2021-22 — the team’s best record at home since 1973-74.<\/p>\n Providence College Basketball: The 2025-26 campaign marks the 99th season of basketball at Providence College. Since the program started in 1926-27, Providence has posted a 1,583-1,065 mark, good for a .600 winning percentage.\u00a0 The Friars have made the NCAA Tournament 22 times and the National Invitation Tournament on 21 occasions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Friar Notes: *Saturday will be the BIG EAST opener for both teams and the first league game played…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-341599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}