Aidan Igiehon, aka “The Irish Hulk”, never found his footing in college. Now, after months of rumors, he is officially leaving the Louisville basketball program.
What if I told you that once upon a time Chris Mack chartered a private flight to travel to Ireland just the woo the mother of a top recruit? You’d likely think that recruit would be a major part of the program’s future. Unfortunately, that officially won’t be the case for former Louisville basketball four-star recruit Aidan Igiehon.
Just two years removed from choosing the Cards over programs like Virginia, Villanova, Oregon, USC, Florida, Indiana, and others, the once-promising recruit has become a mystery of sorts due to rawness, injury, and other outside factors. Buried on the bench, Igiehon played just 5.7 minutes over his 18 game career, averaging 1.4 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. Thrown into action on numerous occasions, Igiehon was always a step behind the game usually looking lost on the floor. While he showed some flashes of potential, it was never enough to find his spot in the rotation.
Following missing the final 15 games of the season due to injury/illness, Igiehon has officially decided to look for a fresh start, entering the transfer portal according to Jeff Borzello of ESPN.
From folklore to the transfer portal
Looking like a character straight out of an NBA video, Igiehon captured the attention of the fanbase thanks to his impressive physique and dominating play. Fans spent hours debating how good the 18-year-old could become playing for Chris Mack. Many went so far as to say he could be the next Montrezl Harrell. Igiehon was a featured athlete for Overtime and garnered thousands of followers on social media. He was dubbed by one expert as potentially the greatest basketball player to ever come out of Ireland.
It didn’t stop there. At Louisville Live in 2019, fans brought in Irish Flags by the dozens to Fourth Street Live! all hoping that their infatuation would ultimately lead to a commitment.
Igiehon committed shortly after, and the hype only grew.
It was hard not to believe that the 6’10, 235-pound could become the next great Cardinal big man. However, those growing expectations didn’t account for the fact that Igiehon was as raw as a prospect could get when it comes the game of basketball. For months leading up to the 2019-20 season, Mack did his best to slow down the hype. He told reporters Igiehon was working on learning “the speed of the game” and dealing with “how to become a college basketball player.”
Still, fans waited in anticipation to finally see Igiehon on the floor. In the first five games of his career, Igiehon played double-digit minutes three times filling in for an injured Malik Williams. Only then did fans begin to see the rawness of Igiehon. Many wondered if he was ready to play.
He only played out of necessity from there on out, ultimately seeing his season end early due to an injury.
After another offseason of talking about whether he’d be a big part of the rotation in 2020-21, Igiehon once again looked like a player still not ready to contribute. After playing in the first four games of the season, Igiehon played just once more during his sophomore campaign. That seven minutes played in the 35-point blowout to Wisconsin now will serve as the lasting memory of Igiehon in a Cardinal uniform.
Igiehon’s mountain-high expectations and rawness combined with the injury and illnesses ultimately prevented him from tapping his potential. His lack of development has been one of the biggest knocks of Mack during his short tenure and grew the loudest yet this season once Gabe Wiznitzer began to see the floor.
However raw Igiehon was, the fact that Mack was never able to coach him up to the level needed is a major disappointment.
A fresh start at a smaller program with less expectations could serve him well.
What’s next for Louisville
As far as Louisville basketball is concerned losing Igiehon isn’t a roster killer but it does raise questions about depth. Louisville will return Gabe Wiznitzer and could potentially bring back Malik Williams thanks to the NCAA’s free year. They’ll also bring in highly-touted four-star big man Roosevelt Wheeler, who should see minutes from day one.
That gives them bodies, but not a ton of assured production. Of course, breakout freshman JaeLyn Withers should return as well but putting him at the five is not the ideal situation following what we saw in 2020-21.
Depending on what happens with Williams, Louisville could find themselves in a precarious situation. The scholarship opened up by Igiehon should be assigned to incoming transfer Matt Cross, which leaves Mack strapped unless another player leaves. Assuming that happens, Mack will assuredly pursue another big man likely through the transfer portal. If not, he’ll have to move
We will continue to provide updates on Igiehon as information comes in
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