Tim Welsh may have landed himself another sleeper.

Journal / Glenn Osmundson

PROVIDENCE — Over the last nine years, Tim Welsh and his staff have done some of their best work with recruits who’ve floated under the radar.

From Ryan Gomes and Sheiku Kabba to Herbert Hill and Sharaud Curry, Welsh has made a living off of recruits who’ve slipped through the cracks and barely registered in the eyes of national scouts. Now the Friars hope Bilal Dixon is next in line.

Dixon verbally committed to Providence College yesterday. He’ll sign a letter-of-intent with the school in November and enroll next fall. Dixon, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward from Queen of Peace High in North Arlington, N.J., is currently not considered among the top half dozen seniors in the Garden State. While he was being recruited by the likes of St. John’s, UNLV, La Salle and Siena, he said PC was the one school that clearly wanted him.

“I think it’s the right decision. I felt happy with Providence,” said Dixon. “They said they had one scholarship and they’re giving it to me. That made me feel good.”

PC is getting a player who is clearly on the rise, according to Queen of Peace coach Bill Schoener. Dixon attended famed St. Anthony’s High in his hometown of Jersey City for his first two years of high school but decided to transfer to improve his academic standing. When he arrived at Queen of Peace last fall, Schoener says he wasn’t sure what he was getting.

“Before he transferred here, Bilal had never played varsity ball,” he said. “We started open gym and he was a big, strong kid, but as the year went on he really came on. If you look at a tape from then and a tape now, Bilial’s improvement is tremendous. His best days are ahead of him.”

Schoener said Dixon enjoyed a big summer at both camps and with the Juice All-Stars of Brooklyn, N.Y. Dixon said playing with top area talents like Lance Stephenson, one of the top juniors in the nation, helped his game and raised his stock in the eyes of college scouts. He’s also friendly with PC sophomore guard Brian McKenzie.

“Providence saw me with the Juice All-Stars,” Dixon said. “They see me as a four-man (power forward) and I did a lot of that in the AAU. Providence lets their big men do a lot of things on the floor and I liked that.”

Dixon is a strong dunker, runs the floor well and steps away from the hoop and handles the ball at the high post. He averaged 13 points and 14 rebounds in his first varsity season and Schoener expects bigger things this winter.

“Last year, I didn’t realize how good he’d be. Now I’m ready to push him to be his best,” said Schoener. “No one knows how good he can be. He has quite a bit of talent.”

PC has only one senior on its roster this season in senior forward Charles Burch. Welsh targeted frontcourt players all summer and seemed to focus on Dixon and two other New Jersey products, Ryan Brooks and Dominique Rutledge. Now with Dixon set to sign, the Friars can blanket the junior class where they’ll need at least five new players.