Fardaws Aimaq can see the finish line to his dream of playing basketball at the NCAA Division One level and it happens to be on the other side of the continent.
The former 6-foot-10 Steveston-London Shark standout leaves this weekend for Bridgton Academy in Maine where he will spend the coming season playing in the New England Preparatory Athletic Council (NEPSAC) AAA League. The basketball program at the all-boys school has a rich tradition of developing college-ready players under longtime coach Whit Lesure. Last year’s roster featured talent from eight different states.
The decision to head east has been part of an extensive and, often exhausting, process for one of the most dominant players to come out of Richmond in recent memory. Aimaq enjoyed a pair of outstanding seasons playing in the “Shark Tank” at Steveston-London, leading the school to a second place finish at the B.C. AAA Championships in 2016. He followed that up by averaging over 27 points and 18 rebounds in his Grade 12 year — earning his second straight Lower Mainland Tournament MVP award, on top of city honours as well.
Coupled with another impressive season at the U.S. based AAU level with AthElite, there was interest from a whopping 22 programs, including six NCAA Division One schools. Yet, there needed to be more convincing to produce the full-ride offers. It meant a change of plans, spending a year playing at the prep level and establishing himself as an attractive 2018 recruit.
“It basically comes down to wanting to see Fardaws prove he can play at that next level. That means going to one of the best prep leagues in North America,” explained Steveston-London coach Mike Stoneburgh. “Unfortunately you just don’t get that kind of exposure here. He is going to a program that has a reputation of sending guys off to Division One.”
Plenty of schools will be paying attention to Aimaq’s progress at Bridgton.
He is slated to make an official visit to Mercer University in Georgia Sept. 22. A trip to Radford University in Virginia will follow soon after. Other programs to show interest include West Coast destinations Pepperdine, Washington State and San Francisco. It was the latter school’s coach — Kyle Smith — who recommended Aimaq to Bridgton.
“Everything has been going down for the last six months, right from my high school to my AAU season,” said Aimaq. “This is about getting more schools on the radar and working towards playing at the NCAA Division One level. “It’s definitely a long ways from home but I’m excited and it’s always been easy for me to adapt to a new situation. I’m just grateful for Mike and the people at AthElite who have helped me through this whole process.”
Besides working on his game playing in tournaments throughout the Pacific Northwest this past spring, Aimaq has also taken the time to study NESPAC AAA games on YouTube to see what he will be up against.
“From what I can see it is a much more physical game and they let a lot of stuff go compared to up here which is fine with me,” he laughed. “Just watching the games, the big guys have to play through contact but have the opportunity to be more aggressive at the offence and defence ends. That’s definitely more my game.”
He will begin training soon after his arrival in Maine. There will also be strength and conditioning work, along with plenty of film sessions.
“They really try to simulate an NCAA environment,” added Aimaq.
