Rhode Island tipped off the season with a commanding 96-58 victory over Fairfield on Monday night, providing early answers to offseason questions while also introducing new dynamics that will shape the team’s journey in the coming weeks.
The biggest two questions coming into this season centered around the free-throw shooting and defensive effort. A season ago, the Rams ranked 349th out of 362 in free-throw percentage, and their defense ranked outside the top 250. In this game, the Rams flipped those narratives as they shot 34 for 41 at the free-throw line, a mark they haven’t hit since the 2006 season. Six Rams hit three or more free throws, and fourth-year Sebastian Thomas led the way, shooting 8 for 9 at the line.
Rhode Island’s coach Archie Miller spoke highly of Thomas throughout the off-season and made it clear that the offense would run through Thomas. Miller’s praise was warranted, as Thomas was clearly a verbal leader for the Rams. He was the engine for Rhode Island’s offense and finished with 18 points, seven assists and only one turnover.
“Sebastian is a self-made player at this point in time, no coach should take credit for him” Miller said. “He went out, he bet on himself, he played ferociously last year to prove himself and he came back confident, hardened, older, and the bottom line with him is there isn’t much you can do to bother him.”
Miller believes in Thomas’s development, and it’s hard to blame him. He was an all-conference player in the American East and the conference’s leading scorer at just under 20 points per game. He also looked much better defensively from a communicator and an effort standpoint.
“I feel like we communicated pretty well, we had a couple minutes in the game where they scored in transition.” Thomas said. “We just have to correct it and we’ll get better every single day.”
Rhode Island’s lackluster defense looked a lot better. They played hard, were great at navigating screens and weren’t afraid of conflict. The referees didn’t take that kindly in this one, but it was a positive thing to see for the fans and coaches compared to last year. In total, there were 56 fouls between the two schools. There was a flagrant one, a technical foul, two players fouled out, and it felt like someone hit the deck almost a dozen times. At one point, the teams went to the bench, the players jawed back and forth, and the coaches gave the referees a piece of their minds.
Defensively, the most exciting player on the floor for Rhode Island was first-year Tyonne Farrell. While some people didn’t expect Farrell to start, his physical capabilities with his 6-foot-6 frame made it clear why he might be the right choice for the Rams starting small forward. Farrell finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Miller liked what he saw from the freshman, and he made it clear that Farrell has earned this.
“Tyonne has started for us since day one, he started against UConn, he started in a closed scrimmage, and he earned the right to be able to start tonight,” Miller said. “He gives us a bigger body at the 3 position which we like…. I’m not saying things will always stay the same with our team, but we have a team that if you don’t do what you need to do on a daily basis you get behind.”
Miller played a nine-man rotation for most of the Rams’ season opener against the Stags. The starting lineup featured four new players. Fourth-year Jaden House, who started all 32 games for the Rams last season, was the biggest surprise. House came off the bench, and it seems as though that could be his permanent role this season. His scoring talents make him the perfect player to come off the bench and play the spark plug role. He sometimes struggles with poor decisions, but his natural scoring ability is undeniable. He finished this game with 16 points, going 7 for 8 at the free-throw line, and hit some incredibly difficult stepbacks and fadeaways.
The question now is, will House accept the role of a spark plug off the bench?
“It wasn’t no difference for real,” House said. “I still got the same amount of opportunities… you just got to adjust it and play the right way all the time.”
While House did get the same number of shots that he typically would in a start, it’s not hard to see that changing if third-year Jamarques Lawrence doesn’t foul out in 13 minutes of play.
“In Jaden’s case he’s a much better player than he was a year ago, but he can be a much better player moving forward,” Miller said. “I think he can be first-team all-conference coming off the bench… he’s got to show a shift, and of our guys do not just him, in his mindset of what he really wants, does he want to be a guy who scores some points and plays on a half ass team or does he want to be guy who competes and impacts a team that has some really meaningful games.”
Miller made it clear that this lineup isn’t set in stone, and there will be changes. But it’s hard to imagine many changes after a 38-point win.
Fifth-year center Javonte Brown made a handful of splash plays. It amounted to 11 points, and six rebounds in 20 minutes of play. Brown also played well on the other end. He contested many attempts at the rim, altered and deterred many shot attempts and boxed out very well. Last season, Rhode Island was towards the top of the Atlantic 10 in most rebounding categories. On Monday, they outrebounded the Stags 45-27.
Last season’s leading scorer, fifth-year David Green, hit a couple of 3s, including one off a nice feed from Thomas. He finished with a quiet 10 points and five rebounds in 23 minutes.
Second-year players Cam Estevez and David Fuchs joined Jaden House in the first group of subs. Both players started plenty of games in their freshman seasons. Fuchs failed to make a field goal and left the floor after a completely unprovoked and unnecessary technical. As for the Harlem native, Estevez took a step forward. While this year’s team might be better than last year’s, Estevez is better too. Estevez, an improved ball handler, wowed with his ability to navigate within the arc. Regardless of how crowded it was, Estevez got his shot up and in. Defensively, he looked better, too, starting to utilize the length of his frame. He finished with 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks in 24 minutes.
These players will be the ones to decide the direction of Rhode Island, for better or for worse. Rhode Island started this 2024-25 campaign with a 38-point win over Fairfield. Next, they play Holy Cross at 7 p.m. ET Friday on ESPN+.
