Birthday surprise

Ballyhooed prep Aldrich presents himself, Thursday, November 3, 2005

By Gary Bedore, Assistant Sports Editor, KU Sports.com

Cole Aldrich, who decided weeks ago he wanted to play college basketball at Kansas University, waited until Monday to make it official. "I held off until my birthday. I thought it'd be a great present for myself and the whole KU staff and the crazy fans at KU," Aldrich, a mature-beyond-his-17-years high school junior from Bloomington, Minn., revealed Wednesday.

Aldrich, a 6-foot-11, 250-pounder, cell-phoned KU coach Bill Self with his oral commitment before his first class of the week at Jefferson High. "I wanted to get it done and not have all that anxiety all day on my birthday," said Aldrich, rivals.com's No. 9 player in the Class of 2007, who chose KU over Minnesota and North Carolina.

He informed the media of his decision Wednesday, once a heavy test load at school had abated. "Coach Self was kind of speechless at first. It was a random call to him out of the blue at 7:30 in the morning. He asked me if I was sure, and I said I was, and then he was all excited for me," Aldrich said.

Beginning his freshman year, Aldrich -- who averaged 15 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks his sophomore season -- made five unofficial visits to KU, including Late Night in the Phog the last two years. "Every time I went there, it was a new experience and more fun than the last time I was there," Aldrich said. "It could have been the first time or this last time when I knew I wanted to go there for sure.

"I just felt the time was right, and I didn't want to pursue the universities I wasn't totally interested in. I felt Kansas was the best place for me."

Aldrich said he hoped the people of Minnesota would understand he had to make the decision best for con himself. He said he was excited about playing for Self and also picking up pointers on how to get to the next level from staff member Danny Manning. "Hopefully the state of Minnesota is nice," he said. "If not, I guess it's another thing you've got to deal with. You can't always make everybody happy."

KU has recruited big men from Minnesota before, including Rick Rickert and Joel Przybilla (Portland TrailBlazers). Both chose the in-state Golden Gophers over KU and others. "I had a math project and looked at some basketball stats," the outgoing Aldrich said. "I've got 193 blocks, or something like that right now. Przybilla's state record is 694 blocks. I figured out (if) I get 10 good blocks a game for 42 games, I can break the record."

Aldrich said he couldn't think of a player on the college level with whom to compare himself, but he quickly identified one he'd like to copy. "I kind of want to do what Wayne did," he said of ex-Jayhawk Wayne Simien of the Miami Heat, "back to the basket, but also face-up. He had that nasty little baseline jumper nobody could stop."

With two years to go in high school, Aldrich said he hadn't thought much about becoming one of the top big men in KU history. "It'd be great," he said. "With coach Manning and Wilt (Chamberlain) and so many of the honors, it would be an honor to have a career compared to theirs," Aldrich said. "I'm just excited about playing for those fans. I love all the fans there. They are crazy. Everybody loves crazy people."

Onlookers might have thought Aldrich was crazy on Halloween. Hours after committing to KU, he hit the streets trick or treating. His costume? "My buddy and I had grass skirts and shell bras. We were hula girls," he said with a laugh. "I love talking to people. Sometimes I'll be with my buddies and stuff, somebody walks by, and I'll talk to random people. I'll say, ‘Sir, how are you today. Have a nice day.'

"It embarrasses 'em," he said of his pals. Aldrich's oral commitment is nonbinding. He will sign with KU next November.