New York ? Future Kansas University basketball center Cole Aldrich emerged as a fan favorite, scoring 14 points in the Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic on Friday night at New York’s famed Rucker Park.
Rise Magazine reports that the 6-foot-11 Bloomington, Minn., Jefferson High senior started the game with a one-handed follow dunk, “and kept throwing down from there.”
He drew the nickname “Cole Play” from the public-address announcer.
“Coming from high school and AAU, we don’t have big crowds like this, and if we do, they’re not crazy like this crowd was,” Aldrich told Rise Magazine, one of the sponsors of the game. “It was a heck of a crowd, and I’m glad they accepted my game. That first slam dunk just got them to like me.”
Future Kansas State player Michael Beasley, who played on Aldrich’s team, which won, 141-139, had 26 points. Kyle Singler, a forward from Oregon who is considering KU and others, had 16 points in a losing cause.
Several NBA players, including Jason Kidd, attended the game, held on the famed outdoor court.