Jonas Aidoo’s emergence as one of the SEC’s best front court players was critical in Tennessee winning its first outright SEC Regular Season Title since 2008. The 6-foot-11 power forward is the X-factor for Tennessee. Opposing coaches have described him as a “development success story.”
But with successful player development, things aren’t always easy. Aidoo can attest to that fact.
“It’s been rough, it’s been tough and I’m sure at points, he had doubts about everything and he stuck with it,” Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey said.
Aidoo’s first months at Tennessee were trying. The Durham, North Carolina native was a raw prospect when he arrived in Knoxville and played a total of just 12 minutes his freshman season before Olivier Nkamhoua suffered a season ending ankle injury the first weekend of February.
While Aidoo was thrust into bigger moments in the final six weeks, things were difficult for the freshman in a new place, battling injuries, playing little and adjusting to the rigors of big time college basketball.
“It was very hard. I was down on myself a lot … it was very hard,” Aidoo told RTI about his freshman season. “Just to myself a lot and trying to find a way to get back out there with my guys and get in the right headspace.”
Aidoo ending up at Tennessee came after a dramatic and trying recruitment. The 6-foot-11 forward wasn’t even a top 200 recruit when he began his senior year of high school. COVID-19 shut down the basketball recruiting world entering his final prep year and he started flying up the recruiting rankings that season, eventually finishing as the No. 40 player in the 247sports composite rankings.
The four-star recruit thought he found his future home when he committed to Marquette in December. But Marquette fired Steve Wojciechowski following the 2020-21 season which threw Aidoo’s future into limbo again. The one constant was assistant coach Justin Gainey.
“Coach Gainey was my lead recruiter and he stayed on me,” Aidoo said. “He kept consistent with me. He kept it real with me and stuff like that. He told me the truth about everything. Like, it’s not gonna be easy, nothing gonna be easy or handed out to me.”
Just under a month after losing his job at Marquette, Barnes and the Vols hired Gainey as their newest assistant coach. A Greensboro native and former North Carolina State point guard, Gainey convinced fellow North Carolina native Aidoo to follow him to Tennessee.
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Gainey being upfront and honest with Aidoo was important during his first two years in Knoxville. Aidoo leaned on his mom, former coaches, Gainey and roommate Jahmai Mashack during the tough times early in his career. And while it wasn’t easy, he stayed the course and listened to his teammates.
“I mean, yeah, of course,” Aidoo said on if it was hard to trust the process. “The thoughts are all over the place so it is definitely hard to trust what they’re saying, but I definitely trusted them. I had to believe.”
Aidoo’s minutes dramatically increased from 7.8 to 18.3 minutes in his sophomore season but his production was still inconsistent as he averaged 5.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
The jump came this season for Aidoo. Barnes has installed confidence in Aidoo, constantly telling him and anyone who will listen that he’s going to be one of the best big men in the country.
Aidoo’s play on the court hasn’t been too far behind. He averaged 13.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in conference play this season. The league’s media voted Aidoo on the first team while the league’s coaches voted him on the second team.
“It’s been a proud moment for me in that aspect, because we have been on this journey for a long time and you think about how rough the freshman year was and at points the sophomore year had some bumps in the road,” Gainey said. “And for our staff it’s telling him, ‘Hey, keep believing us. Keep going. Trust us on this.’ And for him to have that trust and to believe in us, it makes us very, very proud that he stayed the course and fought through adversity to get to where he’s got to because it hasn’t always been easy.”
The junior power forward is critical to what Tennessee does on both ends of the court. He’s one of the “best big man defenders in the country” and ranks ninth nationally in Evan Miyakawa’s Defensive Bayesian Performance Rating.
He’s far from a finished product offensively but is giving Tennessee a more consistent interior scoring threat than they’ve had in recent years. That gives the Vols’ offense another dimension that could prove beneficial as they look to make the program’s first Final Four.
And while Aidoo’s “prayed for” the success he’s had this season, he seeks a deep March run more than anything else.
“I want more,” Aidoo said. “I want to be the best. I want the championship with this group of guys we have on this team, so I just want to be one of the best teams ever to come out of Tennessee.”
