Just like in my 2024–2025 year-end awards (which, I might add, I was the first to release), the two lone freshmen on this year’s Providence Friars team have been named to the Big East All-Freshman Team. Joining the Friars’ duo are UConn’s Liam McNeely (Freshman of the Year), Creighton’s Jackson McAndrew, Georgetown’s Thomas Sorber, and Marquette’s Royce Parham, completing the All-Freshman Team lineup.
As my All-Big East Teams only contain 5 players each, you know, like a normal basketball squad, the only player I didn’t have on my squad is Jackson McAndrew.
It took the coaching staff far too long to give Ryan Mela the minutes he deserved, despite his almost immediate positive impact whenever he stepped on the court for the Friars — even earning multiple DNPs along the way, despite the mounting injuries on the team. Once Big East play started, Kim English and company finally caught on to what the rest of Friartown had already seen — and had been calling for. Now, let’s take a quick look at his pre- and post-Big East Conference numbers.
Pre-Big East Play:
10.5 mpg; 3.1 rpg; 1.1 apg; 0.6 spg; 0.1 bpg; 4.1 ppg
Big East Play:
23.5 mpg; 6.2 rpg; 2.2 apg’ 0.9 spg; 0.2 bpg; 7.1 ppg
As for Oswin, he steadily improved as the season progressed, needing just a bit of time early on to adjust to the college game. With Bryce never fully returning and Christ in and out of the lineup due to injuries, Providence leaned on Oswin far more than they likely intended. In the end, it paid off — Oswin averaged over two blocks per game in Big East play and established himself as one of the better defensive bigs in the conference, even while giving up size against most of his matchups.
And despite the transfer portal being a bit of a mess this season (to put it mildly), the small but mighty freshman class turned out to be pretty impressive.
The Morning Hangover 
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