The 17-year-old power forward has attracted offers from more than 30 top universities across the United States.
Aidan Harris Igiehon is taking America’s high school basketball scene by storm and says it is all down to his old club in Dublin.
The teenager, who has been nicknamed ‘The Irish Hulk’, is one of the hottest high school prospects in the States and, this week, paid a visit back to Dublin to talk about his journey.
Harris’ performances for Abbey Seals Dublin Lions attracted the attention of leading basketball scouts and he was offered a scholarship by Lawrence Woodmere School, in New York, back in 2014. At 6-foot-9, 225lbs and possessing impressive court coverage, ESPN rank him 22nd of all high school players in America, and as the third best centre. Other analysts place him in the top 20.
The Clondalkin native told The Echo that heading to America just shy of his 14th birthday was tough but that having his aunt and uncle living in New York helped him settle.
On Dublin Lions and the role they, and his first coach Mick White, had on him, Harris said:
“I couldn’t dribble the basketball, I couldn’t make a lay-up, I couldn’t do nothing, but they took me under their wing and they’re one of the few clubs that do focus on development so I got better really really quickly.
“Within the next year I grew about a foot. That helped a little bit. But they were a huge influence and they gave me a lot of confidence. They basically taught me the game of basketball, which is really good.”
Harris is one of four Irish youngsters making huge strides in US high school basketball, the others being former Dublin Lions teammates Max Amadasun and Kevin Anyanwu, and Silas Sunday (Liffey Celtics).
Many of the country’s top universities are tracking the power forward and he has whittled down some 30 offers to 10 preferred destinations, saying he hopes to eventually pick two or three and go from there.
“In the next year or two,” he says, “if I do my job right, I hope to be in the NBA.”
Check out the interview with Aidan Harris Igiehon here:
Video credit: The Echo
