Fardaws Aimaq (born January 6, 1999) is a Canadian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

. He previously played for the

Mercer Bears The Mercer Bears are the athletic teams of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, United States. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia with an NCAA Division I athletic program and fields teams in eight men's and nine women's sports. The ...

Utah Valley Wolverines The Utah Valley Wolverines represent Utah Valley University in NCAA DI collegiate athletics and sponsor 16 sporting programs. The Wolverines participate in the Western Athletic Conference. The school mascot is the Wolverine, and the colors are gr ...

, and

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams use the "Red Raide ...

Early life and high school career

Aimaq grew up

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and practiced

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

for 11 years, earning a

black belt Black Belt may refer to: Martial arts * Black belt (martial arts), an indication of attainment of expertise in martial arts * ''Black Belt'' (magazine), a magazine covering martial arts news, technique, and notable individuals Places * Black B ...

. He started playing competitive basketball after growing to 6'3" during eighth grade. Aimaq attended

Steveston-London Secondary School Steveston-London Secondary School (SLSS) is a public high school in Richmond, British Columbia for pupils grades 8-12. Steveston-London Secondary follows the semester course system. Origin Before the establishment of Steveston-London Secondary ...

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a coastal city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. It occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough), between the two estuarine distributaries of the Fraser River. Encompassing the ad ...

. He led his team to its first-ever AAA provincial title game. Aimaq played a

postgraduate season A postgraduate (PG) year is an extra year of secondary coursework at a boarding school following high school graduation, but before entering college. It is a gap year option intended for students who either have not applied or were not admitted ...

Bridgton Academy Bridgton Academy is an all-male college preparatory school, college preparatory in Bridgton, Maine. Founded in 1808, the school sits at the northern tip of Long Lake in North Bridgton, Maine. The school has been NEASC accredited since 1934, making ...

Bridgton, Maine Bridgton is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,418 at the 2020 census. A resort area in Maine's Lakes Region, Bridgton is home to Bridgton Academy, a private preparatory school, and the Four on the Fourth Roa ...

. He averaged 18.6 points and 13.8 rebounds per game, earning First Team All-

NEPSAC The New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) is an organization that serves as the governing body for sports in preparatory schools and leagues in New England. The organization has 169 full member schools as well as 24 associate ...

Class AAA honors. Aimaq committed to playing college basketball for

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader ...

College career

As a freshman at Mercer, Aimaq averaged five points and 5.3 rebounds per game. He left the program after head coach Bob Hoffman was fired. He transferred to

Utah Valley Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

and sat out for one season due to NCAA transfer rules. On December 12, 2020, Aimaq scored 27 points and grabbed a program-record 20 rebounds in a 93–88 loss to

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

. On January 15, 2021, he recorded 29 points and 14 rebounds in a 93–92 win over

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. On February 13, Aimaq posted 18 points and 25 rebounds, breaking his program record for rebounds in a game, as Utah Valley lost to Dixie State, 93–89. As a sophomore, he led NCAA Division 1 in rebounding with 15 rebounds per game in addition to 13.9 points, 1.6 assists and 1.7 blocks per game. Aimaq was named WAC Men's Basketball Player of the Year and WAC Men's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year. Following the season, he declared for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...

, but ultimately returned to Utah Valley for his junior season. As a junior, he averaged a career-high 18.9 points per game, along with 13.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.3 blocks. He repeated as the WAC Defensive Player of the Year as well as a First Team All-WAC honor. On March 18, 2022, Aimaq entered the

transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool launched on October 15, 2018, to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member ...

and also declared for the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...

while maintaining his college eligibility. On April 30, 2022, Aimaq committed to

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

. He suffered a foot injury prior to the season, which limited him to only 11 games played. He averaged 11.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Following the season, Aimaq exercised his additional year of eligibility and announced he would again enter the transfer portal. On April 7, 2023, Aimaq committed to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, reuniting with head coach Mark Madsen whom he played for at Utah Valley.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 29 , , 5 , , 14.9 , , .517 , , 1.000 , , .420 , , 5.3 , , .2 , , .2 , , .8 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="11",

Redshirt , - , 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;",

, 22 , , 22 , , 30.5 , , .485 , , 1.000 , , .618 , , style="background:#cfecec;" , 15.0* , , 1.6 , , .2 , , 1.7 , , 13.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 34.4 , , .490 , , .435 , , .723 , , 13.6 , , 1.7 , , .7 , , 1.3 , , 18.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 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;",

, 11 , , 9 , , 27.5 , , .443 , , .278 , , .742 , , 7.9 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , .3 , , 11.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 94 , , 68 , , 26.7 , , .487 , , .409 , , .654 , , 10.7 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , 1.1 , , 12.5

Personal life

Aimaq's father, Faramarz, is from Afghanistan but moved to Germany, before settling in Canada, to escape the Soviet-Afghan War. Aimaq is a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

References

External links

Utah Valley Wolverines bioMercer Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aimaq, Fardaws 1999 births Living people Basketball players from Vancouver Bridgton Academy alumni Canadian expatriate basketball people in the United States Canadian men's basketball players Canadian Muslims Canadian people of Afghan descent Centers (basketball) Mercer Bears men's basketball players Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball players Utah Valley Wolverines men's basketball players