Kim Aiken Jr. #24 of the Eastern Washington Eagles defends Christian Braun #2 of the Kansas Jayhawks during the second half in the first round game of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Indiana Farmers Coliseum on March 20, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
After an uncertain couple of months, Eastern Washington transfer Kim Aiken Jr. announced his decision to transfer to the Arizona Wildcats, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello.
Aiken Jr. had committed to the Wildcats back in April but backed off his pledge to the university after Sean Miller was fired as head coach.
Later in April, it was reported that Aiken Jr. would go to the Pac-12, but he committed to Washington State.
However, Aiken would never enroll there and was denied admissions into the university’s political science graduate program, according to Theo Lawson of The Spokesman-Review.
Now, the reigning defensive player of the year in the Big Sky Conference re-commits to the Wildcats, this time to new head coach Tommy Floyd.
On his way to earning First-Team All Big-Sky last season, Aiken Jr. averaged 11.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
The 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward also averaged 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game, shooting 44% from the field.
Aiken Jr. chose the Wildcats after receiving offers from Miami, Washington State and DePaul, amongst others.
He will be immediately eligible with two-years remaining and slots into a frontcourt that includes returnees in sophomore forward Azuolas Tubelis and junior center Christian Koloko. The Wildcats also brought in center Oumar Ballo, a transfer who followed Floyd from Gonzaga to Tucson.
