Providence Friars to lose more players to transfer portal. Who's leaving?
· Yahoo Sports
Providence’s men, Bryant’s men, the University of Rhode Island women and the Providence women all face potential 2026-27 roster changes due to expected transfer portal and commitment activity last week.
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The Friars men could see three additional players depart when the portal officially opens. The Bulldogs men picked up a commitment, the Rams women could see a young star leave Kingston and the Friars women saw an international connection depart for the Division II ranks.
Oswin Erhunmwunse, Jamier Jones and Nilavan Daniels took the headlines in Providence after Ryan Mela announced his intention to return for his junior season. Duane Thompson is back in Division I with Bryant after spending last season in junior college. Vanessa Harris and Austeja Babraitis could both start next season elsewhere after spending 2025-26 with the URI women and Providence women, respectively.
The portal will officially open for twin 15-day windows – Monday, April 6, through April 21 in the women’s game, Tuesday, April 7, through April 22 in the men’s game. That’s one day after their respective national championship games. Coaches had previously been forced to re-recruit their own rosters or attempt to build news ones in the midst of the NCAA Tournament.
Players generally would like to settle their respective futures before offseason workouts begin, but finding a fit – the right relationship, potential role and an agreements on name, image and likeness rights – is a two-way street. This space will be updated weekly with any local developments.
Here’s a look at the action from last week.
Oswin Erhunmwunse, Jamier Jones and Nilavan Daniels announced their intention to enter the portal on social media, a busy close to the week for the Providence men.
Erhunmwunse made news Thursday alongside Ryan Mela, who released a statement in cooperation with the school that he would return to the Friars. Jones announced his potential entry Friday and Daniels followed suit Saturday.
Erhunmwunse averaged 6.9 points and 8.3 rebounds as a sophomore, closing in the national top 90 in 2-point shooting, block percentage, offensive rebound percentage and defensive rebound percentage per KenPom.com. He started in all but two of his 33 appearances, recording five double-doubles and nine games with at least four blocked shots.
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Jones was named to the Big East all-rookie team while averaging 11.9 points and 4.5 rebounds. He started in each of his last 19 appearances, hitting double figures 14 times and scoring at least 20 points twice. Jones collected a season-high 23 points in a home loss against Villanova, 20 points in a road loss at Connecticut and a double-double in a January upset win at St. John’s.
Daniels was recruited as a preferred walk-on out of St. Louis before eventually earning a scholarship. He made one start among his 20 appearances last season and closed 10-for-21 from 3-point range. Daniels played at least nine minutes in seven of his last eight games, including a career-high 24 in a home win over Xavier.
Stefan Vaaks, Daquan Davis, Rich Barron and Jaylen Harrell each previously confirmed their intention to enter the portal after a 15-18 season and a coaching change at Providence. All but Vaaks were present for Bryan Hodgson’s introductory press conference on campus – he was hired to take over after from Kim English after three seasons. Davis initially committed to the Friars before spending his freshman season at Florida State.
Duane Thompson commits to Bryant
Duane Thompson committed to Bryant after previous time at St. Bonaventure and Midland (Texas). He will join the Bulldogs for the 2026-27 season.
Thompson is a Boston native who spent last season with the Chaps, starting in 10 of his 33 appearances. He averaged 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 81.7% at the foul line and collecting 21 steals. Midland finished 27-7 overall and reached the NJCAA Men’s Basketball Championship.
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Thompson is a 6-foot-8 forward who prepped at Putnam Science (Conn.), redshirted with the Bonnies in 2023-24 and played 25 games with the program in 2024-25. He averaged 3.1 points and 1.6 rebounds before announcing a transfer. Thompson claimed offers from the likes of Seton Hall, Virginia Tech, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, George Mason, George Washington, Indiana State and Florida International during his initial prep recruitment.
Harris could leave URI women's team
Vanessa Harris could be set to leave the University of Rhode Island women after one season.
On3 reported Harris is set to enter the portal this week, something she confirmed on her personal Instagram account. Harris was named Sixth Woman of the Year in the Atlantic 10 and also played her way onto the league’s all-rookie team.
Harris came off the bench in all 33 games for the Rams, averaging 10.2 points and 3.8 rebounds. She scored in double figures 18 times and racked up 31 steals in 21.9 minutes per game. Harris helped URI to a first sweep of conference regular season and tournament titles in program history a first NCAA Tournament berth since 1996 and a program record for victories thanks to a 28-5 record.
Harris will join Palmire Mbu and Amori Jarrett in entering the portal when it opens this week. They could all exit alongside former coach Tammi Reiss, who was hired away to Florida after seven seasons. The Rams will introduce new coach Colleen Mullen during a Tuesday morning press conference at the Ryan Center.
Babraitis departs Providence women's team
Austeja Babraitis has left the Providence women and committed to Barry University.
Babraitis will step down to the Division II ranks after appearing in one game with the Friars in 2025-26. Her move to Florida comes after signing with Providence late last summer and enrolling in time for fall semester. She’s a Lithuania international who should play in the frontcourt for the Buccaneers.
Providence enjoyed some success in the portal last season. Friars coach Erin Batth recruited Sabou Gueye away from Florida A&M, and Gueye was named to the Big East first team at the close of the season. Providence added a second starter in Teneisia Brown, who prepped at St. Andrew’s and previously starred at Fairleigh Dickinson.
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Oswin Erhunmwunse, Jamier Jones leaving Providence basketball