Providence Picked Fourth in the Preseason Big East Poll; Jason Edwards and Oswin Erhunmwunse Honored

The Big East tipped off the 2025–26 season with its annual Media Day at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, unveiling the league’s preseason poll and individual honors as voted on by the conference’s coaches.

The additions of Jason Edwards (2nd Team) and Oswin Erhunmwunse (3rd Team) to the Preseason All-Big East teams were not a surprise. Conversely, Providence was picked to finish fourth by the league’s coaches — behind St. John’s, Connecticut, and Creighton.

Many assumed Marquette would be slotted in ahead of Providence, both based on their recent run of success and the Friars’ struggles a season ago. However, the Golden Eagles lost significant experience and production with Kam Jones, Stevie Mitchell, and David Joplin departing. They are leaning solely on internal development this season.

PC’s placement ahead of them is a nod to last spring’s player acquisitions combined with the return of Erhunmwunse, senior guard Corey Floyd Jr., sophomore Ryan Mela, and junior wing Rich Barron.

St. John’s, the defending Big East regular season and tournament champion, was the coaches’ pick to win the league, earning seven of a possible 10 first-place votes. UConn, ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25, received the remaining four first-place votes and was slotted second. Creighton, which has won at least one NCAA Tournament game in five straight seasons, was picked third.

More on Edwards and Erhunmwunse

Edwards was named to the Preseason All-Big East Second Team after averaging 17.0 points per game at Vanderbilt last season. He brings big-time scoring punch to Friartown and should push for the league’s scoring title. The blazing-fast guard was a key reason why Vanderbilt, picked to finish at the bottom of the SEC, reached the NCAA Tournament. He scored 200 more points than any other player on their roster last year.

The season prior, Edwards averaged 19.1 PPG for a North Texas team that won 19 games and beat LSU in the first round of the NIT, before falling to a Seton Hall group that was an NCAA Tournament snub. Edwards had five games of 30+ points at North Texas, and put up 30 more versus TCU last season.

Erhunmwunse earned a spot on the Preseason All-Big East Third Team following a promising freshman campaign in which he was named to the league’s All-Freshman Team. Erhunmwunse averaged 6.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game last season while shooting over 70% from the field. He had multiple blocks in 13 Big East contests last season.

For all of the offensive talent Providence added this offseason, perhaps no player is more important than Erhunmwunse, thanks to his defensive upside. His rim protection and athleticism will be key for a Providence team that struggled to find consistency at the center position a year ago. He certainly showed flashes of greatness as a freshman, and will now need to turn his considerable upside into nightly production for this team to make the NCAA Tournament come March.

“He doesn’t look like a skinny kid anymore,” Friar head coach Kim English said of Erhunmwunse, who is up to 250 pounds, on Tuesday. “He didn’t play well Sunday against Pitt, but he’s been a lot better than that in practices.”

Between the transfer additions and returnees, English called last season’s group “a house divided” and believes having his players meet with, and vet, this year’s newcomers should lead to better chemistry. He’s seeing improved cohesion already.

“We backed out of guys when we got bad reports from them. Every single player on our team signed off on the guys we brought in,” he said.

English spoke highly of how this group has competed in practice, “They have a competitive edge that’s innate. I spent much more time turning these guys down, (rather) than trying to rev them up. There’s been an edge and chippiness and physicality to our practices that I’m hoping to see translate onto the court when we start going for real.”

League Honors and Outlook

St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor was named Preseason Player of the Year after averaging 14.7 points and 8.1 rebounds last season. The 6’9 senior led the nation in offensive rebounding and was a First Team All-Big East selection in 2024–25. UConn freshman Braylon Mullins, a McDonald’s All-American and Indiana’s Mr. Basketball, was selected Preseason Freshman of the Year.

The Preseason All-Big East First Team featured three UConn players — Solo Ball, Alex Karaban, and Tarris Reed Jr. — along with Creighton’s Owen Freeman, Marquette’s Chase Ross, and former Friar Bryce Hopkins, now at St. John’s.

The Second Team was guard-heavy, with Edwards joined by Silas Demary Jr. (UConn), Josh Dix (Creighton), KJ Lewis (Georgetown), and Ian Jackson (St. John’s).

The Third Team included Erhunmwunse, along with returners Jackson McAndrew (Creighton), CJ Gunn (DePaul), and Malik Mack (Georgetown), plus transfers Nik Graves (Creighton), Dillon Mitchell (St. John’s), and Joson Sanon (St. John’s).

Looking Ahead:

Providence will close out its exhibition slate against Harvard on October 25 before opening the regular season at home against Holy Cross on November 3. With Edwards and Erhunmwunse anchoring a retooled rotation and the Friars projected as a top-four team in the Big East, expectations are high for Kim English’s third season in Friartown.