Dubliner Aiden Igiehon is on course to become only the second Irish player to play basketball in the NBA.
He follows in the footsteps of Pat Burke, who was born in Tullamore. Burke moved to Cleveland, Ohio aged three and forged an NBA career.
Aiden Igiehon is a different case, having not left Dublin until he was a teenager. He found himself an outsider in a country that’s mad about basketball in a way Ireland just isn’t.
Aiden Igiehon hopes to declare for the NBA draft and will be eligible at the end of this season. As well as that, it’s his ambition to play basketball for the Ireland national team.
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“I played soccer from when I was six. I had no idea about basketball. But it was my English teacher at Moyle Park that got me into it,” the 21-year-old said.
After joining the program at the University of Louisville in Kentucky in 2019, Igiehon transferred to Grand Canyon University, where he will have the chance to compete in the NCAA Division 1 with the college team, The Antelopes.
“I can actually declare for the draft after this year but it depends on how you play,” he says, adding that he feels tailor-made for the more flexible demands of the modern big-man power-forward and centre roles in the NBA.
“Thank God, I’m perfect for today’s big man role because you have to be able to do everything. You have to be able to shoot it, be athletic, run and guard multiple positions – that’s the biggest thing.”
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“It’s the defensive end, you have to be able to switch on point guards and so on, guard ball screens in different ways and that’s a big deal. I’m agile enough, big enough and strong enough to do all that so I think I’ll be able to turn that over really well.”
