NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing 2019 C Jonathan Aku’s final five teams

Texas A&M Aggies

Newcomer head coach Buzz Williams also has a rebranded roster, including a pair of three-star forwards in Emanuel Miller and Yavuz Gultekin. These are very talented players that could be more ready to play out the gate than Aku and have a higher overall floor. But with senior forward Josh Nebo the only returning frontcourt rotation player, there is still plenty of playing time available going forward.

Texas A&M doesn’t start out in the Buzz era in a bad spot at all and already in play for multiple quality top-100 players in the 2020 class. There’s a small chance that the Aggies could land even better frontcourt recruits than Aku. This roster is far from finished being retooled so that is one concern a player who needs to be developed should have.

Texas Tech Red Raiders

Seeing what head coach Chris Beard has done with lesser known prospects makes the Red Raiders such an appealing candidate (along with just making the national title game). He also fits their system perfectly, as Aku would be a nice replacement for the outgoing Tariq Owen as the athletic, defensive specialist center down low.

But he would almost certainly redshirt his freshmen season if things go according to plan. Grad transfers Chris Clarke and TJ Holyfield will be the starting frontcourt players, while three-star forward Tyreek Smith (who also reclassified) and seven-foot center Russel Tchewa are coming in as freshmen. Of all the options, Texas Tech would represent the most difficult route of playing time. And this doesn’t even include the Red Raiders going after top-tier big men to capitalize on their recruiting boost.

Aku plans on being part of the 2019 recruiting class, although he may enroll midway through the season in January. But either way, don’t expect too much right away for this developing prospect. However, Aku eventually end up being a key clog for whichever program he selects down the road as a nice pickup after July.