By JACOB POLACHECK & ADAM ZAGORIA
Aidan Igiehon, the 6-foot-10 center from Lawrence Woodmere (NY) Academy and the Team Rio AAU program, announced his commitment to Louisville on Friday at a press conference at his school.
He took his official visit to Louisville last month (Sept. 28) and then hosted Louisville coach Chris Mack at his school on Friday. Mack also recently visited Igiehon’s mother in her native Ireland.
“Aidan’s size and strength and mobility make him one of the best young big men in grassroots basketball,” Team Rio coach Mike Rice said. “Once his awareness and basketball instincts catch up to his physical attributes, it’s all over. And besides, if his hoops career doesn’t take off he can always be the next Irish Rambo and move to Hollywood.”
After cutting his list to four in August, Igiehon chose Louisville over Kentucky, Oregon, and St. John’s. He joins Samuell Williamson, David Johnson, Jaelyn Withers, and Josh Nickelberry as the fifth commit in the Cardinals’ 2019 class.
#Louisville commit Aiden Igiehon @Big_harris22 of @LWAcademy & @teamrionational on his strengths & areas for improvement, what he experienced on his official visit, his goals & what he’s interested in away from the court #L1C4 (2/2)☘️ pic.twitter.com/2d3cRP8d2w
— Andrew Slater (@Andrew__Slater) October 19, 2018
According to 247Sports, Igiehon is ranked as the No. 44 overall player in the Class of 2019 and the No. 1 player from the state of New York.
Lawrence Woodmere coach Jeff Weiss compares Igiehon’s body type to a young Amar’e Stoudemire or Dwight Howard.
“His upside and his physicality is unbelievable,” he said. “He’s got muscles on top of muscles and he’s very athletic. He jumps, runs, really athletic and his skillset is is pretty good for a guy that size. He’s big and strong. I compare him physically to Dwight Howard and Amar’e Stoudemire when they came out of high school.
“I think Aidan’s upside his enormous and if you know him, he’s a wonderful kid,” Weiss said.
Photo: Andrew Slater
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