Bryce Aiken (born December 14, 1996) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He previously played college basketball for the

Seton Hall Pirates The Seton Hall Pirates are the intercollegiate athletic sports teams representing Seton Hall University, located in South Orange, New Jersey. The Pirates compete as a member of the NCAA Division I level (non-football sub-level), primarily compet ...

of the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

and the

Harvard Crimson The Harvard Crimson are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard, more than ...

High school career

Raised in

Randolph, New Jersey Randolph is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 25,734, reflecting an increase of 887 (+3.6%) from the 24,847 counted in the 2000 census, which had in turn ...

, Aiken played basketball during his freshman year at

Pope John XXIII Regional High School Pope John XXIII Regional High School is a Roman Catholic high school in Sparta, in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. The school was founded in 1956, originally as ''Our Lady Of The Lake School'' and is part of the Roman Catholic Dioces ...

Sparta, New Jersey Sparta is a township in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 19,600, reflecting a decrease of 122 (−0.6%) from the 2010 United States Census, when the township's population was 19, ...

. While attending Pope John, he became friends with

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player

Kyrie Irving Kyrie Andrew Irving (; lkt, Ȟéla, italic=no, ; born March 23, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named the Rookie of the Year after being selected ...

. For his sophomore year, Aiken transferred to

The Patrick School The Patrick School is an independent private co-educational four-year high school in Hillside in Union County, New Jersey, United States. The school was established in 2012 following the closure of St. Patrick High School Academy, which was ...

, Irving's former team, in Hillside, New Jersey. He averaged 10.8 points per game as a senior and helped his team to a 64–18 record over three years, including a runner-up finish at the

City of Palms Classic The City of Palms Classic is an annual high school basketball tournament held in Fort Myers, Florida. History The tournament began in 1973 as a high school boys' basketball tournament with a seven-team format. The earliest editions featured team ...

. On the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU) circuit, he played for the PSA Cardinals. On October 8, 2015, Aiken committed to play

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for Harvard over offers from Miami (Florida) and

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesa ...

. He was a consensus four-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

and was ranked among the top 100 players in the 2016 class by

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a larg ...

and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

College career

As a freshman, Aiken was named

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

Rookie of the Year and First Team All-Ivy. His 14.5 points per game average was the highest for a Harvard freshman since 1988. He averaged 14.1 points per game as a sophomore. Aiken suffered a left knee injury in loss to Columbia on February 2, 2018 that required offseason surgery. He missed the nonconference section of his junior season before returning on January 21, 2019 against Howard and finished with 16 points. On February 8, Aiken scored a career-high 44 points in a 98–96 triple overtime win over Columbia. As a junior, Aiken averaged 22.2 points, 2.9 rebounds. and 2.6 assists per game on a team that finished 19–12 and lost to

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

in the second round of the NIT. He was named to the First Team All-Ivy League. Coming into his senior season, Aiken was named to the Naismith and Bob Cousy Award watchlists. He scored his 1,000th career point on November 22 in a 82–74 win over Holy Cross and finished with 32 points, hitting 5 of 7 three-pointers. Aiken played just seven games during the 2019–20 season before being sidelined with a season-ending injury. Aiken averaged 16.7 points and 1.7 assists per game in those seven games. On April 9, 2020, Aiken announced that he would transfer to

for his senior season, choosing the Pirates over

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

and Iowa State. After an injury-plagued senior season, Aiken took advantage of the additional year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He sprained his ankle in Seton Hall's season-opening loss to

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

on November 27, and was ruled out for two weeks. On January 15, 2022, he sustained a concussion during a 73-72 loss to Marquette and was ruled out indefinitely. On March 2, Aiken was officially announced to be out for the season. He averaged 14.5 points and 2.7 assists per game.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", Harvard , 26 , , 9 , , 27.8 , , .395 , , .349 , , .884 , , 2.2 , , 2.8 , , .8 , , .0 , , 14.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Harvard , 14 , , 9 , , 27.7 , , .375 , , .235 , , .807 , , 2.1 , , 2.9 , , .3 , , .0 , , 14.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Harvard , 18 , , 17 , , 32.8 , , .434 , , .398 , , .855 , , 2.9 , , 2.6 , , 1.2 , , .0 , , 22.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Harvard , 7 , , 6 , , 25.6 , , .412 , , .361 , , .872 , , 1.9 , , 1.7 , , 1.3 , , .0 , , 16.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 14 , , 0 , , 14.4 , , .319 , , .270 , , .889 , , .9 , , 1.5 , , .4 , , .0 , , 5.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 15 , , 6 , , 26.2 , , .448 , , .353 , , .825 , , 2.1 , , 2.7 , , 1.3 , , .0 , , 14.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 94 , , 47 , , 26.3 , , .406 , , .342 , , .851 , , 2.1 , , 2.5 , , .9 , , .0 , , 14.8

Personal life

Aiken's father, Daryl, ran

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

for the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

, where Aiken's mother, Diana, was a

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

. His two older brothers played college basketball: Kyle for Lincoln University and Julian for Assumption College.

References

External links

Seton Hall Pirates bioHarvard Crimson bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aiken, Bryce 1996 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from New Jersey Harvard Crimson men's basketball players People from Randolph, New Jersey Point guards Pope John XXIII Regional High School alumni Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball players Sportspeople from Morris County, New Jersey The Patrick School alumni