I knew that when Shaqquan Aaron committed to play for the Cards back in February that we had landed a very solid early recruit for the class of 2014. Aaron finished up his high school season a few months ago by leading Seattle Rainier Beach High School to win the Washington Class 3-A state championship. That is the same school that produced NBA players Doug Christie, Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson and former Cardinal Terrence Williams, to name a few.
Now that his high school season is over Aaron has hit the AAU circuit and played this past weekend in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball stop at the Boo Williams Sportsplex. He was creating some buzz among the scouts that were there watching the game, and among those watching Aaron this weekend was his future coach Rick Pitino. On Saturday, Aaron’s team the Seattle Rotary club lost both its games, but he played well showing off his skill and versatility. He had 17 points in the morning session with Pitino present for the entire game. He had 16 points in the evening session where he showed off his long range skills hitting four 3-pointers.
Shaqquan is one of the most talented and versatile 2014 prospects on the West Coast and in the nation as a whole. He is ranked #34 by Scout, #15 by 247sports, #31 by Rivals and #51 by ESPN. He spent his first year at Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei. He was home-schooled as a sophomore and did not play high school basketball. He just did transfer to Rainier Beach for this basketball season and when head coach Mike Bethea had the chance to see him play for the first time only one word came to mind “Wow.” I think Aaron had a lot of folks going wow this past weekend and I look forward to many wow moments from him in a Cardinal uniform.
Reggie Rankin of ESPN WRITES:
Aaron brings versatility to Louisville
“Aaron is an extra long and lean guard/forward. He excels in transition by getting to the rim or spotting up for the open 3-pointer. In the half-court set Aaron has the length to shoot over small defenders with range to the arc. He also can go by his defender with quick first-step slashes and pull-up jumpers. He finishes with length as opposed to strength at this stage of his game. He can rebound and ignite the break with his ability to bust out dribble and is a tip-in threat on the offensive class. Aaron is also a very capable multiple-position perimeter defender. He will need to continue to add strength but his versatility and upside are tremendous.”
Alex Kline of TheRecruitScoop.com gave the Cardinals Beak this exclusive comment: “Rick Pitino continues to dominate the Pacfic West Coast. He’s landed Terrance Williams and Peyton Siva in the past. Both were success stories for the Cardinals. Shaqquan Aaron should be the same with his versatility, scoring ability and court vision. He should create great mismatches.”
Here is some video of Shaqquan Aaron:
