The Summer Mailbag Pt. 1: The ceiling of the Friars' backcourt, sorting through the rotation, Oswin's expanding game, and more
With students heading back to campus soon enough, let’s tackle the latest round of questions in our mailbag. As always, thanks to everyone who submitted a question!
Hi, Kev, great stuff always, thanks for coverage. A lot of us came out of last season saying we really need to figure out the point. Daquan looks like a great fit, but looks like he may not start. How are we feeling about the starting 5 being more oriented towards Edwards and Sellers creating their own shots and letting the ball handling sort itself out? Go Friars!
Thanks, Mike
As someone who doesn’t agree with Rick Pitino that the point guard position is dead, I’m very intrigued to see how the backcourt comes together this winter. I don’t think Providence has a pass-first creator in the backcourt that so many of us grew up on, but Jason Edwards and Jaylin Sellers are so talented that you kind of forget about it when watching them play. On pure talent and scoring ability, the ceiling is high.
Edwards isn’t a point guard in the traditional sense, but his numbers are indisputable: 19.1 PPG on 35% beyond the arc and 80% at the line at North Texas two years ago, and 17.0 PPG, 35% from three, and 83% at the line in the SEC with Vandy. Edwards benefitted from playing alongside a tall, defensively sound point guard in AJ Hoggard at Vanderbilt, which freed him up to do what he does best — attack.
Edwards has great scoring numbers, but Sellers is every bit as exciting. He’s really athletic, physical, and pops in games I’ve gone back to watch from his time at UCF. He’s like a stronger Al Durham.
Davis is growing into being a point guard offensively, and a pairing with Edwards would be too small for my liking. It feels like he’ll have to play with Edwards a decent amount if he’s going to get minutes, however.
While Edwards and Sellers have both looked dynamic this summer, it’s fair to have concerns about their low assist numbers. Edwards has averaged 1.4 assists in his career, while Sellers averaged 1.0 assists in his last fully healthy season. The Friars potentially have a lot of mouths to feed this year, and may rely on the likes of Ryan Mela and Corey Floyd to do more of the creating from the wing.
It’s worth noting, Edwards averaged about four assists per game at the junior college level.
How would you compare this years back court to the best we've had over the last 25 years (back to our time at PC). Do you think this one could crack the top 5? I do...
JLD
I clarified with John that he is referencing the starting backcourt, not the guard rotation. There’s certainly potential for this pairing to rank in the top five starting backcourts of the century — on the offensive end, certainly.
They’d have to outperform these groups to crack the top five:
2002: John Linehan was the best defensive guard in the country, and the NCAA steals leader by the time his career ended. In his redshirt senior season he averaged 12.5 points, 4.4 assists, and 3.8 rebounds, while just wrecking opposing offenses with 4.5 steals per game. 4.5! He was flanked by an underrated scorer in junior Abdul Mills, who led that team at 14.5 points per game. Mills’ final few years at PC were marred by injury, but he could score in a lot of ways.
2007: Providence revolved its offense around center Herb Hill (18.8 PPG), but their promising sophomores Sharaud Curry (15.3 PPG, 4.4 ASP) and Weyinmi Efejuku (14.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG) were better than most remember at this young age. Both shot 37% from deep on a good team in a brutally tough league. The nine teams that finished ahead of them in the standings all won 20 games, while Jim Calhoun and UConn actually finished 12th with four future NBA players on their roster. Cincinnati was 2-14 in the league that year — it’s just wild to look back… and one of the reasons why I’d pass on a Big East/ACC merger. The ’07 Friars (who went 8-8 in the league) would have been an NCAA Tournament team in a post-2013 Big East. Hill was a monster in league play (19.9 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 3.3 BPG) and would have dominated a smaller Big East.
2011: The team was awful, but MarShon Brooks averaged 24.6 PPG and 7.0 RPG, and Vincent Council put up 13.7/5.9/4.2 (while young Bryce Cotton bided his time as a freshman). The numbers were inflated playing for Keno Davis, but both Brooks and Council were very talented.
2013: Council is a bit of a victim of timing. He was a Davis recruit, but spent two rebuilding years under Cooley, including this season in which he broke the Big East career assist record and averaged 10.5 PPG and 6.8 ASP on a team that won 19 games. Council was an amazing passer who graduated a year before PC returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade. Cotton had become a 1st Team All-Big East player in 2013, leading the league in scoring as a junior. By season’s end they started a great third guard in freshman Kris Dunn, a McDonald’s All American who returned midyear from shoulder surgery. That team really got it going in February once Dunn fully returned to health. Let’s not forget, Ricky Ledo was supposed to be on this team as well, and would likely have been academically eligible in 2025 with so many kids switching high schools 3-4 times with no hassle from the NCAA. It’s also likely Cotton doesn’t become Cotton if that happens, however. He’s said as much in recent interviews (including with us in our pod series on the 2014 Friars).
2014: The “what could have been” backcourt of senior Bryce Cotton and sophomore Kris Dunn only played four games together due to a second shoulder surgery for Dunn. They can’t be part of this conversation because of it, but the pairing is too tantalizing to completely ignore. PC won the Big East Tournament even after losing Dunn, while Kris never played with a really good shooting guard after Cotton graduated.
2022: Technically, Jared Bynum came off the bench for much of the year, but he was an All-Big East performer and played alongside one of the most clutch Friars ever in Indiana transfer Al Durham. It’s hard to argue with the backcourt that anchored a 27-6 team and reached the Sweet 16. Their overall impact far exceeded their offensive numbers. Bynum turned into Steph Curry for about six weeks, while Durham was excellent late in games, despite playing much of the season injured.
Edwards and Sellers have the offensive ability to crack this list, but the win/loss record will play a significant role.
Hey Kevin,
Appreciate your work in covering the team as thoroughly as you do.
In looking at the roster, there are probably 12 guys who deserve (and probably expect) to play. We know that in today’s game, most coaches are going to use an 8-9 man rotation. With that said, who do you think the odd men out will be come Big East play? My guess is that Harrell, Davis, Baron and maybe Vaaks will struggle to find minutes. Obviously injuries can change this.
Thank you,
Drew
Another excellent question, and a potentially big challenge facing the coaching staff. We’ve heard about depth in years past, and it hasn’t come to fruition due to injuries or players not being quite as good when the lights turned on.
With that said, this team really does have 11-12 guys with the talent to contribute. It’s just hard to play more than nine.
There are probably nine guys who it would be really surprising if they didn’t contribute in some capacity: Edwards, Sellers, Davis, Jamier Jones, Ryan Mela, Cole Hargrove, Corey Floyd, Duncan Powell, and Oswin Erhunmwunse.
I haven’t seen Vaaks live due to his injury, but on tape he looks like he could be the best passer on the team. Jaylen Harrell could be the best outside shooter on the team eventually, and Rich Barron brings two years of experience in the system. Davis is earning high praise for his ability to be a disruptor on defense and figures to play a good amount.
Through health and performance, these things have a way of working themselves out, but it’s a question the staff will have to figure out early. Not an easy one.
Hi Kevin,
I’ve heard a few times this offseason that Oswin has been working to expand his game with outside shooting. At the NIL Outing at Cranston CC, Oswin told our group that this was something we should look forward to this season. In the practices you’ve watched, how does Oswin’s shot look? I don’t think anyone expects him to become KAT from beyond the arc overnight but even a semi-reliable outside shot from Oswin would be great to see. Also hopeful to see some improvements in his FT shooting this year.
Sean
Oswin is noticeably bigger in the arms and shoulders, but has the same bounce of a season ago. Without revealing too much from practices I attended, his shots came mainly from similar spots as a season ago in five-on-five. After one practice he was working on corner threes and hitting them at a clip that really surprised me.
I’d be surprised if he’s taking them in games this year, but his stroke was far ahead of what I would have imagined. Of course, it’s different hitting them without being guarded than in a Big East game.
I thought Oswin subtly improved at the free throw line as the season wore on. Some of his development in-season was overshadowed by the struggles of the team. Having a year under his belt, and an experienced center alongside him in Hargrove, should make a big difference this year.
Hey Guys,
As always I am looking forward to another exciting season of Friar hoops. I love the additions to the backcourt this off season. Should have the ability to play fast and get after it on the defensive side. My biggest concern is the front court. After Oswin, I am worried that Hargrove won't be enough of a presence inside in the physical Big East. Thoughts?
Darren
I think Hargrove will get the job done, Darren. We saw kids like Clifton Moore step up in weight class and not hold up, but Hargrove is a stronger kid, albeit not as tall as some Big East centers. Up close, he looks every bit of his listed 6’8, 245 pounds.
There will be players like Tarris Reed at UConn who will be a handful for any big men, but if you look around the rest of the Big East, not many teams have centers that will overwhelm Hargrove. He can certainly hang with the likes of Ben Gold at Marquette or Creighton’s Owen Freeman physically — and they’ll be holding it down inside for two of the projected top 3-5 teams in the league.
I prefer “dirty work” bigs over floor spacers in the college game, and I think Hargrove will do enough of the little things (offensive rebound, provide a measure of rim protection, finish inside, and pass reasonably well) to be effective.
Let’s end with this one for today and tackle the others later this week. Looking forward to part 2.
Great job as usual Kevin thanks
You never disappoint Kevin