Louisville basketball: How the “Super Six” can impact the Cards going forward
Aidan Igiehon
What we’ve learned: Among the Super Six players that the fans might have been a little overzealous about, Aidan Igiehon is the player who received the most hype but has seen the least amount of playing time.
The “Irish Hulk” is an incredible physical specimen with immense upside, and he got to see a lot of early playing time thanks to an injury that kept center Malik Williams sidelined for the first month of the season.
Igiehon’s time on the court, however, was baptism by fire, which proved to be tough in the early going.
A game against Youngstown State in November serves as a perfect example. Igiehon recorded four fouls in only five minutes of playing time and provided little other impact for the Cardinals.
The 6’10,” 230-pound Hulk did see more than 10 minutes of playing time in three games early and flashed serious potential when he posted 7 rebounds and the first Hulk Smash of his career against North Carolina Central.
Looking ahead: Going forward, it’s tough to foresee Igiehon recording any more of those double-digit minute games with two of the best bigs in the country playing in front of him.
However, just like Louisville’s young wings benefit from going up against Jordan Nwora every day, learning to defend and score against Steven Enoch and Malik Williams is no picnic.
Igiehon has shown increased spatial awareness as the game has slowed down for him. In his first 39 minutes played prior to Williams’ return, Igiehon committed 11 fouls, effectively taking him out of the game. Since then, Igiehon has only committed one foul in 19 minutes played.
It’s a small sample size, but the Hulk is starting to get it, and the more game time he sees, the more he will develop into a back-to-the-basket, traditional face-up big that he was projected to be.
Long-term impact: Down the road, Igiehon is Louisville’s big of the future. So, while my review might sound like one that is glowingly positive of his potential based off of limited appearances mostly in garbage time, let’s make this clear: Much of Louisville’s future hinges on the development of Aidan Igiehon.
Not only was Igiehon the “brand name” recruit in this class despite Samuell Williamson’s All-American game bid, but he also has a massive following and a good deal of pressure riding on this working. He is considered the best player to ever come from Ireland, and he has the physical tools to be extremely impressive down the road.
Louisville also doesn’t have a big man coming in for the 2020 class. There were not many instant-impact bigs in this recruiting cycle, and the few that may be decent down the road were scooped up by the usual suspects: Duke, Arizona, Kentucky, Baylor, etc.
Malik Williams is likely to return for his senior season, but Louisville needs Igiehon to take it up a notch during his sophomore season and beyond in order to stay the course under Chris Mack.
Assistant coach Mike Pegues is considered something of a big man whisperer, as evidenced by Steven Enoch’s serious progress over the last 8-10 months. His next project, Igiehon, has all of the tools and, by all accounts, has the work ethic and drive to get to where he needs to be.
The pride of Ireland has the support of Card Nation and could be in line to dominate the ACC come this time next year.