Nov. 16, 2004
ATLANTA – Alade Aminu, a 6-9 center from Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, Ga., signed a basketball letter-of-intent to attend Georgia Tech Tuesday and becomes the fourth recruit for head coach Paul Hewitt during the early signing period.
Tech has completed its signing class for the early recruiting period. Aminu joins a class that includes 6-5 wing D’Andre Bell of Pacific Palisades, Calif., 6-2 guard and consensus top-50 prep player Lewis Clinch of Cordele, Ga., and 6-1 point guard Austin Jackson of Denton, Texas, the nation’s No. 49-ranked player.
A high honorable mention All-America by Street & Smith, the 16-year-old Aminu’s stock rose dramatically during the summer, and he now ranks as high as No. 50 among the nation’s seniors (and the No. 5 center) by The Insiders.com. Athlon Sports rates him the No. 8 prep center in the nation.
“Alade could have the most potential of all the players in this class,” said Hewitt. “He runs extremely well, can block shots and get rebounds. He gets better every time I have seen him.”
Aminu, who wants to study architecture at Tech, averaged 18 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots per game as a high school junior. He also won the state championship in the triple jump for his track team.
Tech’s other fall signees:
D’Andre Bell, 6-5, Forward
Pacific Palisades, Calif., Pacific Charter High School
Named a high honorable mention All-Americans by Street & Smith’s magazine, and is ranked No. 110 in the nation by Athlon Sports … Averaged 25 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three blocks per game as a junior at Palisades Charter High School, and was named all-city in Los Angeles by SoCal Hoops.
Lewis Clinch, 6-2, Guard
Cordele, Ga., Crisp County High School
Consensus top-50 ranking among high school seniors in the nation … High honorable mention All-America by Street & Smith’s magazine … The 27th-best prospect in the United States by TheInsiders.com and No. 36 by Rivals.com … Athlon Sports ranked him No. 10 in the country among shooting guards … Also a football and a baseball player at Crisp County, the 180-pound Clinch averaged 26 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals per game last season as a junior.
Austin Jackson, 6-1, Guard
Denton, Texas, Ryan High School
Ranked 10th among the nation’s senior point guards by Athlon Sports … Rated No. 49 by Rivals.com, No. 65 by The Insiders.com and No. 80 by The Sporting News … Averaged 22.5 points, five rebounds and three assists per game his junior year, playing the off-guard position after playing point guard as a sophomore, when he averaged 15.9 points and six assists per game … A center fielder who batted .423 with five homers and 34 RBI for his class AAAA runner-up baseball team … Rated the No. 14 high school draft prospect in the nation by Baseball America.
