College basketball transfer portal movement continued in the state last week, with the University of Rhode Island men netting their first two commitments of this spring cycle.
St. Bonaventure guard Jonah Hinton and Charleston Southern guard RJ Johnson will join the Rams after posts on social media. They replace the departing pair of Jamarques Lawrence and Cam Estevez, who committed to Nebraska and Fairfield, respectively.
Bryant’s men, Providence’s women, URI’s women and a couple the state’s natives made their own headlines with pledges and departures. The Friars men opened the week losing guard Jayden Pierre to TCU, a departure that came in the wake of commitments from backcourt competition such as Vanderbilt’s Jason Edwards, Florida State’s Daquan Davis and Central Florida’s Jaylin Sellers.
The Bulldogs men announced their first coaching staff under Jamion Christian, who was hired to replace Phil Martelli Jr. in Smithfield. Harley Fuller, Brian Merritt, Bruce Shingler and Derrick Wall have scored a transfer commitment from George Washington forward Keegan Harvey and a pair of freshman pledges who will make college debuts in 2025-26.
Let’s take a deeper look here.
Hinton played a lone season with the Bonnies after a stint in junior college, hitting double figures in 15 of his 33 games. One of those was an 18-point effort in a loss to the Rams at the Ryan Center, and another was a 16-point outing in a home win over VCU. He’s a Chicago native who redshirted at Northwest Missouri State before heading to Panola College in Texas.
Johnson debuted at Holy Cross in 2020-21 and went on to play the last three seasons at Charleston Southern, starting 76 of his 82 games. He averaged double figures in each of his last two seasons with the Panthers and worked mostly as a lead guard in 2024-25. Johnson was a top-80 player nationally in free throw rate and a top-140 player nationally in assist rate.
Lawrence is back with the Cornhuskers after spending his first two seasons there. He was in line to return as URI’s leading scorer and most experienced backcourt option. Estevez saw his role diminish after a strong freshman year, totaling 61 games in all and putting up 5.8 points on 37.6% shooting from 3-point range.
Bryant has added a pair of 2025 commitments in the past week — both from Florida prep program Riverdale Baptist. Ashley Sims II projects as a power forward and Gio Sanford could work as a shooting guard or wing depending on lineup construction. The Bulldogs add them to Harvey, a shooting frontcourt player who spent the last three years with the Revolutionaries.
Sims and Sanford both played for Shingler, who was added as an assistant coach via release early in the week. He’s among the staff members tasked with filling out a roster that will lose Barry Evans, Keyshawn Mitchell and Josh Ozabor, among others. Evans and Mitchell both followed Martelli to VCU and Ozabor announced an entry into the transfer portal after 56 games and a pair of NCAA Tournament trips at Bryant.
Teneisha Brown returns to the state with the Providence women and Katie Ledden will leave Rams women after two seasons for New Hampshire.
Brown prepped at St. Andrew’s, played two seasons at Merrimack and was a strong frontcourt performer over two seasons at Fairleigh Dickinson. She averaged 15.1 points and 9.7 rebounds last year for the Knights, who rolled to a 29-4 mark and an NCAA Tournament berth. Brown was named the Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Year and was the league tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
“With her experience, she will be a great leader for our incoming freshmen,” Providence coach Erin Batth said in a statement. “We love her personality and commitment to excelling in the classroom.”
Ledden reunites with a pair of familiar faces in Durham. Megan Shoniker was the associate head coach in Kingston before taking the top sideline job with the Wildcats and Eva DeChent enjoyed a breakout 2024-25 season after working as a reserve guard at URI in her debut. Ledden played in 35 career games with the Rams, including 21 last season.
Portsmouth native Courtney Swider and Smithfield native Jack Graham will both leave Richmond after two seasons.
Swider announced a commitment to Wofford on her Instagram page. She was part of the Atlantic 10’s best program, reaching two NCAA Tournaments and capturing both conference regular-season and tournament titles. Swider is a member of a prominent basketball family, the third of four siblings, including professional forward Cole, Stonehill forward Kylie and future Youngstown State forward Connor.
Graham entered the transfer portal through a Saturday announcement on social media. He played in 17 games off the bench with the Spiders after prepping at Milton Academy. Graham held offers from Holy Cross, Northeastern, Lafayette, Manhattan, New Hampshire, Buffalo, Sacred Heart, Bentley and South Carolina Upstate, initially committed to High Point prior to a coaching change and elected to join Richmond in 2023-24.
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: URI adds 2 players through the portal. What other RI teams made moves?
College basketball transfer portal movement continued in the state last week, with the University of Rhode Island men netting their first two commitments of this spring cycle.
St. Bonaventure guard Jonah Hinton and Charleston Southern guard RJ Johnson will join the Rams after posts on social media. They replace the departing pair of Jamarques Lawrence and Cam Estevez, who committed to Nebraska and Fairfield, respectively.
Bryant’s men, Providence’s women, URI’s women and a couple the state’s natives made their own headlines with pledges and departures. The Friars men opened the week losing guard Jayden Pierre to TCU, a departure that came in the wake of commitments from backcourt competition such as Vanderbilt’s Jason Edwards, Florida State’s Daquan Davis and Central Florida’s Jaylin Sellers.
The Bulldogs men announced their first coaching staff under Jamion Christian, who was hired to replace Phil Martelli Jr. in Smithfield. Harley Fuller, Brian Merritt, Bruce Shingler and Derrick Wall have scored a transfer commitment from George Washington forward Keegan Harvey and a pair of freshman pledges who will make college debuts in 2025-26.
Let’s take a deeper look here.
Hinton played a lone season with the Bonnies after a stint in junior college, hitting double figures in 15 of his 33 games. One of those was an 18-point effort in a loss to the Rams at the Ryan Center, and another was a 16-point outing in a home win over VCU. He’s a Chicago native who redshirted at Northwest Missouri State before heading to Panola College in Texas.
Johnson debuted at Holy Cross in 2020-21 and went on to play the last three seasons at Charleston Southern, starting 76 of his 82 games. He averaged double figures in each of his last two seasons with the Panthers and worked mostly as a lead guard in 2024-25. Johnson was a top-80 player nationally in free throw rate and a top-140 player nationally in assist rate.
Lawrence is back with the Cornhuskers after spending his first two seasons there. He was in line to return as URI’s leading scorer and most experienced backcourt option. Estevez saw his role diminish after a strong freshman year, totaling 61 games in all and putting up 5.8 points on 37.6% shooting from 3-point range.
Bryant has added a pair of 2025 commitments in the past week — both from Florida prep program Riverdale Baptist. Ashley Sims II projects as a power forward and Gio Sanford could work as a shooting guard or wing depending on lineup construction. The Bulldogs add them to Harvey, a shooting frontcourt player who spent the last three years with the Revolutionaries.
Sims and Sanford both played for Shingler, who was added as an assistant coach via release early in the week. He’s among the staff members tasked with filling out a roster that will lose Barry Evans, Keyshawn Mitchell and Josh Ozabor, among others. Evans and Mitchell both followed Martelli to VCU and Ozabor announced an entry into the transfer portal after 56 games and a pair of NCAA Tournament trips at Bryant.
Teneisha Brown returns to the state with the Providence women and Katie Ledden will leave Rams women after two seasons for New Hampshire.
Brown prepped at St. Andrew’s, played two seasons at Merrimack and was a strong frontcourt performer over two seasons at Fairleigh Dickinson. She averaged 15.1 points and 9.7 rebounds last year for the Knights, who rolled to a 29-4 mark and an NCAA Tournament berth. Brown was named the Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Year and was the league tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
“With her experience, she will be a great leader for our incoming freshmen,” Providence coach Erin Batth said in a statement. “We love her personality and commitment to excelling in the classroom.”
Ledden reunites with a pair of familiar faces in Durham. Megan Shoniker was the associate head coach in Kingston before taking the top sideline job with the Wildcats and Eva DeChent enjoyed a breakout 2024-25 season after working as a reserve guard at URI in her debut. Ledden played in 35 career games with the Rams, including 21 last season.
Portsmouth native Courtney Swider and Smithfield native Jack Graham will both leave Richmond after two seasons.
Swider announced a commitment to Wofford on her Instagram page. She was part of the Atlantic 10’s best program, reaching two NCAA Tournaments and capturing both conference regular-season and tournament titles. Swider is a member of a prominent basketball family, the third of four siblings, including professional forward Cole, Stonehill forward Kylie and future Youngstown State forward Connor.
Graham entered the transfer portal through a Saturday announcement on social media. He played in 17 games off the bench with the Spiders after prepping at Milton Academy. Graham held offers from Holy Cross, Northeastern, Lafayette, Manhattan, New Hampshire, Buffalo, Sacred Heart, Bentley and South Carolina Upstate, initially committed to High Point prior to a coaching change and elected to join Richmond in 2023-24.
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: URI adds 2 players through the portal. What other RI teams made moves?
