Ex-Nebraska guard commits to Rhode Island basketball while another recruit decommits
The arrivals out of the transfer portal have started for the University of Rhode Island men. The departures from the program also continued, as a player yet to enroll with the Rams requested his release from his letter of intent late Tuesday night.
URI picked up a commitment from Nebraska guard Jamarques Lawrence and lost a pledge from Paul VI guard Ben Hammond. The backcourt shuffle gives the Rams a player with NCAA Tournament experience and costs them a potential incoming floor general.
Lawrence visited Kingston over the weekend and announced his decision via his social media pages. He’s a 6-foot-3 guard and former three-star recruit, according to Rivals and 247Sports. Lawrence retains two seasons of eligibility and adds some veteran depth to a backcourt mix that’s projected to include Luis Kortright, Jaden House, Always Wright and Cam Estevez.
More: Providence basketball lands another transfer recruit; who is he?
More: As the popularity of women's basketball surges, Providence and Rhode Island hope to follow suit
Hammond made his initial decision to attend URI after an official visit in June. He selected the Rams ahead of finalists George Mason, Fordham, Charleston and Towson. Hammond signed with the school in November and continued to raise his profile through the following months with a program that finished as the runner-up to Florida juggernaut Montverde Academy at the Chipotle Nationals.
Lawrence started in 35 of his 62 appearances over the last two years with the Cornhuskers and hit double figures 10 times in 2023-24. Two of those games were against Indiana — he netted a season-high 19 points on 5-for-5 shooting from 3-point range in a February road win against the Hoosiers. Lawrence came off the bench and played 23 minutes in an NCAA Tournament loss to Texas A&M, finishing with six points and two assists.
Lawrence played sparingly in the early going as a freshman before carving out a role during the Big Ten portion of the schedule. All of his seven games in double figures came against conference foes, including in each of his team’s last four. Lawrence is a career 36.4% shooter from 3-point range and posted a top-500 national assist rate of 19.2% last season.
Lawrence was part of a Nebraska rebuild under Fred Hoiberg, as the program jumped from 10-22 in 2021-22 to 23-11 last season. The Cornhuskers made their first March Madness appearance since 2013-14 and just their second since the 1997-98 campaign. Lawrence played double-digit minutes in 50 straight games, a streak that dates to a January 2023 meeting with Illinois.
Lawrence is moving closer to home with this decision. He’s a New Jersey native who played at prep power Roselle Catholic and on the Adidas grassroots circuit with the NY Jayhawks. Lawrence earned scholarship offers from the likes of Virginia Tech, Wichita State, California, Wake Forest, DePaul and multiple new conference rivals — Massachusetts, Fordham and St. Bonaventure.
Hammond elected to end his recruitment prior to reaching the Peach Jam with Team Takeover, one of the premier programs on the Nike circuit. There has been at least one key change at URI over the last nine months — Kenny Johnson was Hammond’s lead recruiter, and he accepted an offer from Georgetown earlier this week to become an assistant coach under Ed Cooley. Johnson takes over with the Hoyas for Ivan Thomas, another Mid-Atlantic native who was named head coach at Hampton.
Hammond was one of the leaders for his team on a national stage, continuing a two-year run of dominance with a pair of strong performances. He totaled 20 points and 13 assists in a quarterfinal win over IMG Academy and added 11 points and nine rebounds in a semifinal triumph over Link Academy. Hammond was among the leaders on a noteworthy roster that included college prospects Patrick Ngongba II, Isaiah Abraham and more.
Until Tuesday, URI’s portal activity had been all departures. Brandon Weston, Zek Montgomery and Tyson Brown were the scholarship regulars among nine players who entered after the Atlantic 10 Tournament finale against Saint Louis. Connor Dubsky, Jeremy Foumena and Rory Stewart were on the rotation fringe and three walk-ons — Ray Allen III, Jameson Smith and Jimmy Ball — will also explore their futures elsewhere.
The Rams retained a projected core of Kortright, House, Estevez, David Green and David Fuchs. Baltimore wing Tyonne Farrell starred in the city’s rugged Catholic League and was still expected to enroll as of late Tuesday night. That group and future outside additions should give URI a chance to improve on the 12-20 overall mark it posted last season.
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Neb.'s Jamarques Lawrence pledges to URI; Hammond decommits
