Aden finally sends in his LOI
Some of you might have been beginning to wonder what was going on with basketball recruit Faisel Aden -- I know I was. Well, any thoughts that maybe he was having a change of heart were put to rest yesterday when WSU finally received his letter of intent.
This is a recruiting "class" that was supposed to lack a lot of drama; only one player from the current squad is graduating (Nikola Koprivica) and Patrick Simon, who faxed in his LOI a week ago, has been committed for quite a while.
However, with new coach Ken Bone coming in and making it clear that this roster doesn't necessarily contain the skill set he needs to be successful with his system, things have been opened up again. First, there was Reggie Moore, whom Bone snatched up after Nick Witherill's transfer. Now, there's Aden, who committed about a week and a half ago. Only thing is, there's no scholarship readily available for Aden.
So, why go to all the trouble for this guy?
Truly, there's very little out there on Aden. He's reportedly a 6-foot-4 combo guard, and he's out of Hillsboro Community College in Florida. As a JC guy, he's not rated by any of the scouting services. He averaged 20.4 points while shooting at an average clip from behind the arc (about 35 percent), and presumably will have three years to play two. In the athletic department's news release, Bone said he's averaging above 30 points this season."We're excited about signing Faisal to a letter of intent," Bone said. "He's a 6-4 guard that can really shoot the ball from the perimeter...really good scorer, not just a shooter. He's putting up big numbers right now (at Hillsborough Community College), he's averaging about 30 points per game after like five games. He's the type of guy that could come in and help us next year, whether he would play immediately next year or not, that's for down the road, we'll see what happens."
Probably the most intersting thing about Aden at this point is his story. He's from Somalia, immigrating to San Diego when he was 7 years old. If you know anything about Somalia, you know it's not exactly a bastion of peace.
"It was starting to get really bad by the time we left," Aden said. "If we would have stayed a week or so, it'd probably been deadly. There was no police. No government. You could get shot."
He eventually moved in with his sister in Texas for high school in an effort to escape yet another bad situation in the San Diego projects. He attended a private school called God's Academy, lighting it up there before heading off to New Mexico State, where he was recruited by then-coach Reggie Theus.
Only, there was a catch. God's Academy had only been around for a few years, and the NCAA Clearinghouse elected not to accept his high school transcript. So, he headed off to Florida, where he became a dominant junior college scorer in his freshman year. He reportedly also had offers from Oklahoma State, Fresno State and Utah State, and was drawing interest from others.
How does he fit in with a team that's already guard heavy? Honestly, I have no clue. A lot will probably depend on whether all the guards stick around. But what little information is out there on him suggests that he fits the mold of the kind of player Bone covets -- one who can run and shoot.
Additionally, Aden professes to have deep love for the game, something that would be music to the ears of a guy like Bone, who is the ultimate gym rat of a coach:
"I've always wanted to do great things in basketball and always had the confidence that I would do it," Aden said. "I just had the passion for it, and it never dies."
I will say this with a pretty high degree of certainty: He's got to be pretty good, because he's not only going to take someone's scholarship -- he's also going to be in the same class with Klay Thompson, DeAngelo Casto, Marcus Capers, Mike Harthun and Abe Lodwick. I suppose he could redshirt, but that rarely makes sense with junior college guys in basketball. Unlike football, it's not like they need to physically mature or learn a complicated system. So, my inference is that Bone recruited him to have an immediate impact next season.
As for the scholarship situation, I'm presuming that Charlie Enquist goes back to walk-on status. However, word on the street is that Bone isn't done with this class, and I'd be surprised if he doesn't make another play for an athletic big man in the late signing period. However, your guess is as good as mine how that scholarship is freed up. We could speculate all day on how that might happen, but at this point it's probably best to just take a wait-and-see approach.
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Comments
Good sign in Aden
Looks like it on paper. FWIW, the Rivals JC site has Aden in their top 10 prospects at #6. I know it is early but we didn’t appear to have many players beyond Thompson and Moore that can create and finish on their own. In Bone’s system you need multiple options and depth. I think Thames will get there in time as he grows as a player. A player like Harthun is dangerous around a bunch of players that can create as well similar to what Mike Roll has done for UCLA.
I don’t want to see players leave but I think they do still need another power forward to add to Casto. That would give them a chance to really compete with the rest of the Pac 10.
by BornCoug on Nov 18, 2009 3:08 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
How another recruit fits in
Like you said I think Enquist goes back as a walk-on opening a spot for Aden, but it sounds like Bone knows somebody will be transferring after this year and Bone has no problem with that player leaving and will help him leave, explained below. There are only two players I think might transfer, Michael Harthun being one, but I don’t think he goes anywhere since he seems like a good fit in Bones system.
So that leaves me thinking that the player transferring out will be Anthony Brown. He does not look to have any major impact on this team this year despite having his redshirt season burned late in a blow out win the first game. Also, he was really recruited to play in Tony Bennett’s system and he is playing a position we are already very deep in with young talented players who are obviously better then he will be, which limits the amount of playing time he likely will get this year or in the future. Now might be kinda crazy, but I think Bone might have actually saved Browns redshirt year knowing Brown will leave and did him a favor of letting him keep that redshirt year so he does not lose any years of eligibility having to sit out a year when he leaves after this season.
by spokanecougar on Nov 18, 2009 3:31 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
The only weird thing about Brown
Is that Bone had to go recruit him after Bennett left. So that would seem a little weird if he was being ushered out the door.
by Jeff Nusser on Nov 18, 2009 3:51 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I don't think he is being ushered out
I think it is mutual, after Bone was able to see him play throughout the summer and fall, and Brown probably realizing the talent ahead of him.
Now I am not saying this is going to happen, I just cannot see any other player transferring out at this point. Granted it is only 2 games into the season and things change.
by spokanecougar on Nov 18, 2009 4:36 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Just think of the scorers on the floor next year
Thompson, Moore, Aden, Casto and Simon on the floor at the same time.
The way that Bennett left the scholarship situation, WSU doesn’t even have any scholarships available for the 2011 year. Think about that, he left WSU with one available scholarship for a two year span.
However, I will say that sometimes these things take care of themselves.
by Coug1990 on Nov 18, 2009 3:36 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Most of the time they do
There just aren’t enough minutes to go around to satisfy everyone. Additionally, as much as I’d like to see Klay make a run at Ike’s scoring mark, I just don’t see him staying past his junior year.
Like you said, these things generally work themselves out. Look at how things opened up with Sauls getting hurt, Boeke never getting healthy, Witherill transferring, etc.
by Jeff Nusser on Nov 18, 2009 3:53 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Yes, it will and HAS to work itself out
Good examples of Sauls, Boeke and Witherill plus even Matthews, Abercrombie and Hopson leaving as well. Looking back, I knew they all left or stopped playing, but I didn’t picture just how many guys left in such a short time under Tony.
It still is an odd roster makeup that he left. If Bone goes after another post player in the spring signing period, that means another player leaving or off scholarship. Then, since there are no juniors on the team, this starts all over again next year if Bone wants to recruit anyone.
By the way, before he left, Tony was still recruiting players for this class. Joe Harris who followed Tony to Virginia is one and then there was that guard from Utah (I forget his name, Hollingsworth maybe???). I am sure there were others. It’s interesting that of the players we knew Tony was recruiting, most of them played the 2 or 3.
by Coug1990 on Nov 18, 2009 4:17 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
There will be room
and players will leave for playing time. It just comes with the territory. You have a roster built for Bennett-ball and a new coach that wants to run. You can already see some players that probably don’t fit long-term.
It will work itself out.
by BornCoug on Nov 18, 2009 4:07 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I'm guessing
that since no one is redshirting this year, that everyone gets the opportunity to earn playing time in practice, and will get the chance to prove they can play in the system. At the end of the season, Bone will have a chat with all the players about where he’d see them fitting in going forward, and offer to help some kids get on with programs elsewhere.
Based on what they bring to the offense, I could see Capers and/or Lodwick being among them, I could see Enquist (though someone on the boards at Cougfan who seems to have solid insight into the program says they’re not going to mess with his scholarship from here out), I could see Watson and even though he recently re-recruited him, I could see Brown… again, all based on their offensive output/fit in Bone’s system.
by TiltingRight on Nov 18, 2009 5:16 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Gosh I hope not Capers
He is perfect defensively for Bone’s system if they can surround him with enough shooters.
by Jeff Nusser on Nov 18, 2009 5:32 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I kinda think ANY team
would find a place for a defensive ability like Capers, so he’d be lowest on my list of likely candidates, but still.
by TiltingRight on Nov 18, 2009 6:50 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Capers has received a lot of playing time the first two games
If that continues, I don’t think it will be him (same with Lodwick). Look for someone at the end of the bench. Out of all the people who have transferred the last few years, none of them had much playing time.
by Coug1990 on Nov 18, 2009 8:53 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
I actually wonder about Motum
He played sparingly the first game and didn’t do too well and then didn’t play at all the second game. From the sounds of it, he plays somewhat similarly and is built like the kid from Ephrata. He is also a very long way from home. Maybe he is having second thoughts about this?
I guess we could speculate all day, I just wonder if Bone already knows who is leaving or if he just doesn’t think he has enough talent. His quotes make it sound like he doesn’t think there is enough Pac-10 talent, so maybe he is giving people the option of transferring or a couple becoming walk ons? The two walk on guards got as much playing time as Brown though.
http://wsufoundation.wsu.edu/giving/enteramount.asp?Fund=Martin%20Stadium%20Project
by selahcoug on Nov 19, 2009 11:08 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
If you go back and read my player profile for him
I think you’re seeing what I was afraid of. The college game is just so much more physical than the international game, and it sounds like he’s having a tendency to drift from the basket. This team needs him near the rim. If he’s going to play smaller than his 6-foot-9 height, then this team really has very little use for him. He’s going to have to start bringing it.
by Jeff Nusser on Nov 19, 2009 12:37 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Could it be....
That Bone has no idea if anybody is planning on transferring and hasn’t had a conversation with any of his players about it? We are all speculating on who the transfer will be like its already been decided.
My guess (and its purely a guess) is that Bone just knows there is almost always player turnover and wants to be prepared. If there isn’t, and all the players want to stay, hopefully the new guys are an upgrade. If thats the case, and he has to let some guys go, thats not a bad problem for us to have.
by mmevans15 on Nov 19, 2009 11:46 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

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