Eastern Washington transfer Kim Aiken Jr. is returning to the Arizona Wildcats' 2021-22 roster.
Aiken confirmed to the Star a tweet from ESPN's Jeff Borzello that he committed to Arizona, choosing UA over Washington State, DePaul and Miami (Fla.).
"That is true," Aiken said. "I just haven't tweeted it out."
According to Theo Lawson of the Spokane Spokesman-Review, Aiken was denied admission to a graduate program at WSU despite carrying a 3.48 grade-point average (and political ambitions), possibly forcing his move back on the transfer market.
Kim Aiken Jr. was denied admission into #WSU's graduate program for political science, I'm told. He had a 3.48 GPA at #EWU. Cougars coach Kyle Smith says it was a "tough pill to swallow."
— Theo Lawson (@TheoLawson_SR) August 2, 2021
A 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward who was the Big Sky defensive player of the year last season, Aiken reportedly committed to the Wildcats the day before Sean Miller was fired, committed instead to Washington State and and decommitted from the Cougars last week.
In April, Aiken told the Spokesman-Review that he didn't sense the same level of interest from Arizona after Miller was fired.
Miller “definitely very interested and high in getting back to that tournament, especially with the postseason ban they had imposed on them this year,” Aiken Jr. told the Spokesman-Review in April. “But, when everything got changed, it just felt as if the interest in me in Arizona wasn’t the same. Everything looked like it was going in a whole different direction. Tommy Lloyd got in, he signs one of the dudes from Chandler, Arizona, (Dylan Anderson, a class of 2022 forward) and signs big O (Oumar Ballo) which makes sense because he was at Gonzaga as his recruit.
“But after that point I was like, hey man, I can provide the same services for you and I’m already committed. But they’re trying to put me on a waiting list, seems like they’re trying to achieve other players and it didn’t seem like I was that great of an asset for him.”
Earlier this summer, WSU coach Kyle Smith told the Spokane Spokesman-Review recently that Aiken was a two-way player who would bring “leadership, maturity (and) toughness” to the Cougars.
“Really like him, excited about him," Smith said. "It’ll be hard to get him off the floor. I just think from what I’ve seen and his attitude, I just think he’s got leadership qualities to him.”
While also being named a first-team all-Big Sky pick last season, Aiken averaged 11.3 points and 8.4 rebounds for the Eagles. In Arizona's 70-67 win over EWU on Dec. 5 at McKale Center last season, Aiken scored six points on 1-for-8 shooting (1 for 7 from 3-point range) and collected five rebounds.
Arizona still has a need for a post player in addition to Azuolas Tubelis, Christian Koloko and Oumar Ballo, though the Wildcats can shift Bennedict Mathurin to power forward as they did in a pinch last season.
Arizona has 12 scholarship players on its 2021-22 roster as of now, with one open spot. New coach Tommy Lloyd has been bracing for possible scholarship restrictions in the future because of the school's impending NCAA sanctions case, but Aiken has only a maximum of two years left to play.
Aiken was a redshirt junior last season so he would technically have two seasons left to play because of the COVID eligibility waiver for players who competed last season.
