That’s What They Said: Jonas Aidoo Commits To Marquette

In case you missed it — and boy, how did you miss the headline if you’re reading this? — 2021 center Jonas Aidoo committed to Marquette men’s basketball on Thursday afternoon. If you haven’t read it yet, go over and check on our news article on Aidoo’s commitment from yesterday.

One thing we didn’t include in that article was Aidoo’s actual commitment video as posted to his Twitter:

It’s a pretty standard video, with Aidoo thanking his parents, his coaches, his prep team, his club team, and all the other coaches who were recruiting him. There’s not much in the way of highlights in there, but give it a watch anyway.

I don’t know if I’m going to end up using all of it, but I want to tell you right now that I have 12 tabs open to pull from for this. That’s 12 outlets of one fashion or another stepping in to provide some kind of a look or insight as to what kind of a player Jonas Aidoo is or how he fits into what Steve Wojciechowski is doing at Marquette. As someone who puts one of these together every time there’s a new MU commitment for men’s basketball, that’s a lot of entries.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

Here’s quotes from Aidoo as reported by 247 Sports’ Travis Branham:

“Because I felt like it was the best fit for me on the court and off the court,” Aidoo said of why he committed to Marquette.

“The way they play, I feel like I will be really comfortable and can produce in their system,” he added. “They compare me to what Henry Elllenson did a couple of years ago and so we watched some film on that and we watched some of their games this year and me and my coach thought it was a perfect fit.”

The North Carolina native’s recruitment was led by Justin Gainey and Aidoo said that there was a couple of things that really stood out about the staff.

“They kept in daily contact with me and they were also giving me a lot of advice,” he said. “If I didn’t play to my best ability then they would give me advice after the game to work on and stuff off the court like mentally and also just some things around the school. It was pretty cool.”

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“I’m going to bring my best, I’m going to work hard every day and give Marquette 110-percent of me,” Aidoo said of what he will bring to the program. “I can stretch the floor and alter shots.”

Branham also did a separate scouting report article on Aidoo for 247 Sports. You can go read the whole thing, but this quote from Aidoo’s club coach stands out the most for me.

“Jonas is just scratching the surface when it comes to his game,” said Team Curry coach Sim Frazier. “He is always a really good shooter and shot blocker but his touch around the rim and passing ability we so underrated!”

The concept of “This 7-foot tall gentleman has an excellent outside shooting touch, everyone knows this” is just absolutely terrifying, and if it’s his inside game that’s improving the most lately, hoooooboy, is that scary.

Here’s the big takeaway from Rivals’ Dan McDonald:

A late growth spurt in his high school career and a ton of hard work in the gym helped take Aidoo’s game to the highest level. Coming off a great travel season with Team Curry, he’s continued to make progress in his post-grad year at Liberty Heights.

The No. 104 prospect in the 2021 class can dominate around the rim with his length and athleticism, but he’s also become a reliable shooter out to three-point range and can make a straight-line drive to the rim.

Jake Weingarten’s report for Stock Risers isn’t as in depth as the other items we’ve touched on so far, but the final quote from Aidoo, when asked for his message to Marquette fans, is notable:

“You’re going to get my all. Can’t wait to get to work.”

Tall, athletic, shoots well from the outside, works hard? Yeah, I think he’ll fit in somehow.

Sports Illustrated has an interesting turn on the recruiting reporting, as they’ve turned their report into a blog entry from Aidoo himself. These are his words, so this is the most notable part since it’s obviously the most recent component of Aidoo’s decision making process:

It was the best fit for me on and off the court. I know because I waited to see all of the teams play; just watching them play I could see myself in there in that system.

They plan to use me in a similar role to the way they use Dawson Garcia, but I’ll still play my game with altering and blocking shots and being that two-way player.

I think it’s worth pointing out right now that it’s entirely possible that Marquette could run out a lineup next year with Dawson Garcia and Jonas Aidoo all on the court together. I mean, if you thought Theo John and Dawson Garcia made for an intriguing pairing, Aidoo changes that dynamic up even further.

ESPN’s Paul Biancardi jumped in with a quick tweet length scouting report on a guy that he and his co-workers just installed as the #70 prospect in the country:

Phenom Hoop Report assembled all of their previous scouting reports on Aidoo into one place, and there’s a lot to read through there, so go check all of that out. I think the most notable line for me was from this report back in January 2020:

Already a comfortable seven-feet tall, Aidoo is really just beginning to add the proper strength to effectively carry out his game on a nightly basis.

Sometimes you see guys who go through a big ol’ growth spurt and it takes them a minute to figure out how everything works together in coordination. Aidoo was already comfortable a year ago at his nearly seven-foot tall height, and he just turned 18 yesterday. Ripping past that comfort barrier in regard to his size is a big deal, and he’s well past it, too.

Wanna watch some videos?

Here’s a highlight reel from Phenom Hoops’ Patrick O’Brien:

ESPN’s Adam Finkelstein assembled a video package with a voice-over scouting report. Only 45 seconds long, but that’s perfect for Twitter I like the intro of the very obviously assembled by Marquette “Committed” graphic.

Let’s go over to Zach Schumaker, who was the first of many guys to tag the AE Twitter with their article and/or video. He’s got an 18 minute interview with Aidoo, which includes discussion of his TikTok.

And we’ll wrap up with this video from Jamie Shaw over at Absolute Basketball Experience. He talked to Jonas about his commitment, including Aidoo saying that Justin Gainey “is like an uncle” to him, followed up with a scouting report, and a few highlights, too.