Birthday surprise

By Gary Bedore     Nov 3, 2005

Thad Allender
Cole Aldrich (55) puts up a shot against the Houston Hard Ballers at the Jayhawk Invitational AAU basketball tournament in this file photo from July 7 at Allen Fieldhouse. Aldrich, who played his summer ball for the Minnesota Magic, has given a nonbinding oral commitment to Kansas University coach Bill Self.

Cole Aldrich, who decided weeks ago he wanted to play college basketball at Kansas University, waited until Monday to make it official.

“I held off until my birthday. I thought it’d be a great present for myself and the whole KU staff and the crazy fans at KU,” Aldrich, a mature-beyond-his-17-years high school junior from Bloomington, Minn., revealed Wednesday.

Aldrich, a 6-foot-11, 250-pounder, cell-phoned KU coach Bill Self with his oral commitment before his first class of the week at Jefferson High.

“I wanted to get it done and not have all that anxiety all day on my birthday,” said Aldrich, rivals.com’s No. 9 player in the Class of 2007, who chose KU over Minnesota and North Carolina.

He informed the media of his decision Wednesday, once a heavy test load at school had abated.

“Coach Self was kind of speechless at first. It was a random call to him out of the blue at 7:30 in the morning. He asked me if I was sure, and I said I was, and then he was all excited for me,” Aldrich said.

Beginning his freshman year, Aldrich – who averaged 15 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks his sophomore season – made five unofficial visits to KU, including Late Night in the Phog the last two years.

“Every time I went there, it was a new experience and more fun than the last time I was there,” Aldrich said. “It could have been the first time or this last time when I knew I wanted to go there for sure.

“I just felt the time was right, and I didn’t want to pursue the universities I wasn’t totally interested in. I felt Kansas was the best place for me.”

Aldrich said he hoped the people of Minnesota would understand he had to make the decision best for con himself. He said he was excited about playing for Self and also picking up pointers on how to get to the next level from staff member Danny Manning.

“Hopefully the state of Minnesota is nice,” he said. “If not, I guess it’s another thing you’ve got to deal with. You can’t always make everybody happy.”

KU has recruited big men from Minnesota before, including Rick Rickert and Joel Przybilla (Portland TrailBlazers). Both chose the in-state Golden Gophers over KU and others.

“I had a math project and looked at some basketball stats,” the outgoing Aldrich said. “I’ve got 193 blocks, or something like that right now. Przybilla’s state record is 694 blocks. I figured out (if) I get 10 good blocks a game for 42 games, I can break the record.”

Aldrich said he couldn’t think of a player on the college level with whom to compare himself, but he quickly identified one he’d like to copy.

“I kind of want to do what Wayne did,” he said of ex-Jayhawk Wayne Simien of the Miami Heat, “back to the basket, but also face-up. He had that nasty little baseline jumper nobody could stop.”

With two years to go in high school, Aldrich said he hadn’t thought much about becoming one of the top big men in KU history.

“It’d be great,” he said. “With coach Manning and Wilt (Chamberlain) and so many of the honors, it would be an honor to have a career compared to theirs,” Aldrich said. “I’m just excited about playing for those fans. I love all the fans there. They are crazy. Everybody loves crazy people.”

Onlookers might have thought Aldrich was crazy on Halloween. Hours after committing to KU, he hit the streets trick or treating.

His costume?

“My buddy and I had grass skirts and shell bras. We were hula girls,” he said with a laugh. “I love talking to people. Sometimes I’ll be with my buddies and stuff, somebody walks by, and I’ll talk to random people. I’ll say, ‘Sir, how are you today. Have a nice day.’

“It embarrasses ’em,” he said of his pals.

Aldrich’s oral commitment is nonbinding. He will sign with KU next November.

KU has received oral commitments from two players who will sign next Wednesday. They are: Sherron Collins, 5-11 from Chicago, and Brady Morningstar, 6-4 from Lawrence, currently playing at prep school in New Hampshire.

¢ Clinic coming: Spaces remain for coaches interested in attending Self’s KU coaches clinic Friday and Saturday.

Registration is 8 a.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. Interested coaches – middle school, high school, junior college, college – are welcome. Generally, 400 or so coaches attend.

What the experts think about KU’s latest pledge

Here are some experts’ comments about Cole Aldrich, a 6-foot-11, 250-pound junior center from Bloomington, Minn., Jefferson High who has committed orally to KU:

“For a kid with his size, he runs extremely well and looks very comfortable out there. He always seems to be around the basket and isn’t trying to impress scouts with ridiculous jumpers like other big men out there. Everybody who enters the gym can’t help but notice what a good body Aldrich has.

“He’s great stepping across from the weak side blocking shots, saving the day for his teammates who get burned. Offensively, he definitely needs to hone his back to the basket game and develop some kind of go-to post move. He also needs to learn how to catch the ball down low, turn, and dunk in one fluid motion without having to gather himself like most big men do.”

collegehoops.net, after watching Aldrich compete at the abcd camp last summer in New Jersey

“For a guy 6-11, 250, he can run the floor extremely well. Right now he is more sound on the defensive end of the court. He can rebound, block shots, set screens, down low is a real force.

“If he wants to be able to step out to 15 feet, it’s something he’ll have to improve, but as a junior he has plenty of time. …

“He’s a perfect fit for KU on and off the court. His commitment proves that under Bill Self demographics (in recruiting) mean nothing. KU used to have a pipeline to California, to Texas, now all bets are off. He can go in any kid’s home no matter the location and seal the deal.”

– Shay Wildeboor, rivals.com

“Cole is a perfect fit for the Big 12. He is the type of player that will grind it out and will do all of the dirty work. Kansas and Cole are a perfect match.

“Cole is the type of player that can block shots, set screens, rebound the basketball and can run the floor extremely well for a big man. If he sticks to what he is best at, which is playing block-to-block, he will have a lot of success. Cole is a great player around the basket and has a very strong body.”

– Justin Young, rivals.com

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