After a mysteriously aborted 2021-22 season at Arizona, Kim Aiken is reportedly making New Mexico State his next stop.
The former Arizona forward had entered the transfer portal in April, nearly five months after leaving the Wildcats for still-unexplained reasons and two months after he was officially dropped from UA’s roster.
Sources: Kim Aiken has transferred to New Mexico State to play for Greg Heiar and company. Aiken spent last year at Arizona, but played just 7 games. Averaged 11.3 ppg in 2020-21 at Eastern Washington on a team that made the NCAA Tournament.
— Colin Deaver (@ColinDeaverTV) August 25, 2022
A grad transfer from Eastern Washington last summer who was an all-Big Sky pick and the league’s defensive player of the year in 2020-21, Aiken almost immediately ran into issues with his decision to transfer to Arizona in April 2021. He committed to the Wildcats a day before then-coach Sean Miller was fired.
Aiken then transferred to Washington State, but was denied admission to a WSU graduate school. He pivoted back to Arizona last August after discussions with new coach Tommy Lloyd. But Aiken played just seven games in 2021-22, averaging 5.0 points and 3.4 rebounds while playing a reserve combo forward role, and made his last appearance Dec. 5 at Oregon State.
After that, Lloyd said Aiken left for a personal reason. Aiken has not responded to requests for comment.
“I think we all need to respect his privacy right now,” Lloyd said on Dec. 8, after Aiken first failed to appear for a UA game. “He’s working through it. At some point I’d love to have him back with us and the sooner the better for me, but again, it’s a Kim Aiken personal issue that I really don’t have any influence on.”
Aikenwas officially removed from UA’s online roster in late February. Lloyd declined to say when asked if Aiken voluntarily left the team or was dismissed.
Aiken still has a COVID-waiver year of eligibility left to play — and possibly another season if he can appeal for a waiver to restore the eligibility he used at Arizona.
