He’s a former Mr. Tennessee Basketball, his 2,643 career points makes him the all-time scoring leader at his former high school, Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville, and he was part of a highly-touted recruiting class that brought former standout Ben Bentil and current point guard Kyron Cartwright to Providence four years ago.
But Jalen Lindsey admits he didn’t live up the lofty hype at Providence his first two seasons with the Friars.
“My first couple of years were definitely up and down,” said Lindsey, the Friars’ 6-7 senior guard. “But I think my teammates and coaches still believed in me, in what I was capable of, so I just continued to work hard and just trust the process. I was young at the time and college basketball is a lot different than it is in high school. So I just stayed with it, worked hard and listened to my coaches and I’ve also grown up a lot since my freshman year.”
But since last season Lindsey has morphed into a lethal long-ball threat for the Friars and unlike his first two seasons when doubt was part of his game, now the long balls fly with confidence.
“I have a lot of confidence in (his three-point shooting) and my teammates and coaches do, too,” said Lindsey, who leads Providence in three-pointers (47) and is third in the BIG EAST in three-point percentage (48%) behind only Marquette’s Sam Hauser and Villanova’s Jalen Brunson. “It’s something I’ve worked on my entire life basically, so I have the ultimate confidence in it. When I shoot I expect it to go in and if I miss I get upset about it. But I have a lot of confidence in it and I continue to get better at it every day.”
But Lindsey is no one-trick pony. He also thrives on the defensive end and likes to be paired off with the opponents’ best whenever possible.
“I think my defense leads to my offense,” said Lindsey, who is averaging 10.1 points per game, one of four Friars to average in double figures along with Rodney Bullock, Kyron Cartwright and Alpha Diallo. “Defensively, me guarding the best players and shutting them down to lower numbers than what they average feels good. I think that gives me energy on the offensive end, too. I try to guard the best player in every game. I definitely take pride in it.”
But given the choice, which end of the floor would Lindsey like to contribute more?
“Oh man, I think that big three is something that just feels great, especially when you hear the crowd get into it,” Lindsey said. “But also defensively stopping their best player is also something that feels good. That helps your team win the game so that’s important, too.”
Lindsey had played in the shadows of Bullock and Cartwright the past season or so, and behind Bentil and Kris Dunn before that. But his time to shine has come and it came from his dedication to improving his game.
“I didn’t have the best start to my college career but I’ve gotten better playing with guys like Rodney and Kyron over the past four years,” Lindsey said. “Their names are always mentioned the most the past few years but now that I’m playing better I’m starting to get more recognized and it feels good. It’s something I’ve worked hard at so I’m just happy to be more recognized now.”
With Bullock’s scoring ability, Cartwright’s floor leadership (he currently leads the BIG EAST in assists) and Lindsey’s all-around superb game, are the Friars ready for a strong showing come March?
“Yeah I think so,” Lindsey said. “I think that the past few games our leadership is starting to show. The seniors are starting to play with a little more urgency knowing that the games are starting to fly by now. I think our leadership has intensified tremendously now and I think if we keep this up we can go as far as we want.”
Providence, which is riding a three-game winning streak, already has one signature victory this season, an 81-72 victory over then-No. 5 Xavier on Jan. 6. But there is still some work to be done.
“I think the BIG EAST conference is one of the best in the country,” Lindsey said. “I think it’s unpredictable. For every team, every night you have to be prepared. I think every game is a big game because of how good our conference is. We take it game by game but we definitely want to get some of those bigger wins to help our NCAA resume so we can get into the tournament and get a good seed.”
The Friars (13-6, 4-2 BIG EAST) will be looking to extend their winning streak to four games when they host Creighton (15-4, 5-2 BIG EAST) at the Dunkin Donuts Center at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Dunk has not been an overly friendly place for opponents this season as Providence is 9-2 at home this year.
“Honestly, it’s our crowd,” Lindsey said. “With the atmosphere, I think The Dunk is one of the hardest places to play in the country. When our crowd gets into it you can feel the ground shaking. I think the crowd is the biggest part of it and we’re comfortable at home.”
After the matchup with the Bluejays, Providence embarks on a three-game road trip that will take it to No. 1 Villanova, No. 19 Seton Hall and to high-scoring Marquette. Challenge accepted, says Lindsey.
“We are going to have a tough road stretch with those three games but we’re excited to play them,” Lindsey said. “We’re not backing down from anyone. I think we are the sleeper team but we don’t mind that. It means we can play free without a lot of pressure on us. We’re going to end up playing three pretty good teams after we play Creighton but we’re always prepared. That’s where senior leadership comes in. We have to keep our young guys in it, keep focused and make sure at practice that we’re locked in.”
And if it all goes according to Lindsey’s plan, or even close to it over the next two weeks, the senior has visions of a fantastic finish to his college career.
“I want to win a BIG EAST championship first,” Lindsey said. “Then I want to get back to the (NCAA) Tournament again and I want to get as far as we can. I’d love to get to the Final Four if we’re blessed enough to get there, which I think we’re capable of if we just continue to get better. You never know, maybe win a National Championship. That would be the Cinderella story of my senior year. But we have to take it game by game and we’ll see what happens.”