For Marist men’s basketball, it has been a real advantage to have freshman guard Jadin Collins come in and perform during his first season as a collegiate athlete.
As a junior in high school, Collins led Rutgers Prep to a 26-4 record and the first New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Nonpublic A Sectional Championship in school history.
“Me having experienced that junior year proved to me that I can be great,” said Collins.
Collins is not unfamiliar with performing on a big stage after his time at Rutgers Prep, as the school is known for its men’s basketball program led by head coach Matt Bloom. Along with Collins, junior Marist guard Noah Harris also attended Rutgers Prep before attending Marist College. During Collins’ senior year, he was fourth in NJSIAA scoring, averaging 20.5 ppg along with 6.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 3.9 steals per game.
Collins wasted no time in proving he was a leader for Marist by earning a starting spot in his first collegiate game. In the first game of the season against Army, Collins recorded 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals in 29 minutes of play. Collins was pleased with his performance and expressed the importance of remaining grounded.
“My biggest thing was staying humble and staying level and not becoming cocky over one good performance because that’s just not the type of guy and player I am,” said Collins. “I wanted to focus on building on that whether it’s the points, the assists, or the rebounds because any of us on the team can have a big day.”
When recruiting Collins, Marist men’s basketball head coach John Dunne was sold on his capability to make big-time plays on both the offensive and defensive end of the floor. Marist has struggled in the past few years on the defensive side of the ball, so recruiting a guard like Collins who is defensively oriented was a point of emphasis for Dunne and his staff.
“Everything that coaches ask him to do, he does no questions asked, and he plays really hard. Every day I think he does a really nice job of leading by example already,” said Dunne. “He’ll get even better at it as he continues throughout this year.”
Serving as a mentor to Collins is sophomore guard Isaiah Brickner. Brickner made an immediate impact for the Red Foxes last year, winning the MAAC All-Rookie Team, the MAAC All-Championship Team, along with this season’s Preseason Second Team All-MAAC.
While the two have formed an instant connection on the court, Brickner and Collins have also worked extensively off the court together.
“Throughout the summer and into the beginning of preseason, Isaiah and I had just worked a lot on our bond on and off the court,” said Collins. “Isaiah [Brickner] is a big brother figure to me.”
Collins and Brickner have already demonstrated their on-court chemistry this season, particularly during a play at the end of a 68-64 road win against Iona. Collins threw a perfect inbound pass to Brickner for the alley-oop in the final moments of play.
After arriving at Marist, Collins was pleased to see how close his teammates were with one another. Collins took it as a sign he was where he was supposed to be.
“Certain guys don’t buy into the team and family culture, whereas here [at Marist], everyone buys in,” said Collins. “Especially because our coach repeats how the guys have to buy into being a family and no matter what’s going on, to be there for each other and that’s a special thing to have in a team.”
When asked about who he looks up to, Collins mentioned guard Nate Pierre-Louis, who has played for the Los Angeles Lakers and currently plays in the G League for the Mexico City Capitanes. Pierre-Louis was voted this past season the G League’s Jason Collier Sportsmanship Award winner.
Prior to college, Pierre-Louis attended Roselle Catholic High School in New Jersey, as did Collins before transferring to Rutgers Prep. When Collins finally met Pierre Louis, they clicked, and the two have kept in touch ever since.
“[Pierre-Louis] called me the other day after the first game and he’s always been like a bigger brother to me,” said Collins. “I definitely look up to him and how hard he plays on defense, that’s one thing I definitely take away from his game. He plays defense hard.”
In addition to his on-court pursuits, Collins is a member of the mental health club for student-athletes at Marist. The club is also known as the Student-Athlete Wellness Advocates (SAWA), and it serves as a forum for student-athletes to communicate with one another about mental health struggles. Collins was intrigued when graduate student center Maeve Donnelly, who is on the women’s basketball team and leads the club, asked him to join.
“It’s been nice just learning about what different things you can do to keep your mental health while juggling the game and personal matters as well as learning how you can help other people with mental health,” said Collins.
A hobby of Collins’ that helps him in this endeavor is meditation, which he actively practices.
“I started meditation the past couple years and its been very helpful. I think it is one of the best things an athlete can do for their mental health to help balance the mental and the physical,” said Collins. “It helps me calm myself and balance myself when I’m stressed or just have a lot on my plate.”
Aside from prioritizing his mental health and wellness heading into this season, Collins also worked on his shooting, as well as his pace. Collins wanted to adapt to the pace of college basketball as opposed to the pace of high school. With the development of all these traits, Collins hopes to apply them this season.
“Pace is a big thing in college. Whereas in high school, you can go basically fast all the time. You don’t have to have that much pace. But in college, you have to have pace because you guys are bigger and stronger,” said Collins.
To Collins, family is a primary factor in his life and basketball career. Collin’s family shows an immense amount of support to him in his goals and aspirations on and off the court; they frequently are in attendance for big moments, and even small ones.
“The whole family all came out to my first game [at Army West Point] and I needed that because of those nervous jitters I had, but they’ve really helped me a lot,” said Collins. “I definitely wouldn’t be here. If it wasn’t for them, especially like Dad and Mom, of course, but my Nana and grandfather have helped me out a lot.”
With his freshman year just beginning, Collins hopes to continue his play to help the Red Foxes compete for a MAAC conference championship.
Edited by Danny Destler and Luke Sassa
Graphic by Gavin Hard; Photos from Marist Athletics
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X and TikTok, and sign up to receive daily alerts here.