Aidan Igiehon Working to Improve Conditioning

As a freshman, Aidan Igiehon struggled to adjust to the intensity of college basketball. Heading into his sophomore year, the Louisville men's basketball forward continues to work on his conditioning so that he can meet expectations set by head coach Chris Mack.

At this point in time, Aidan Igiehon's struggle to adapt to the game of college basketball in his first year have been well documented. Before being sidelined with a shoulder injury this past February, the 6-foot-10 forward appeared in 13 games during his freshman campaign, but could only average 1.0 points and 1.3 rebounds across 4.7 minutes.

It's not because of Igiehon's strength or a lack thereof. After all, you don't earn the nickname "Irish Hulk" without good reason. Instead, the Dublin, Ireland native struggled to adjust to the intensity at the next level and the conditioning it required.

"That really held him back a year ago. He lost his wind very quickly," head coach Chris Mack told reporters in a teleconference Thursday. "Certainly his skill set has to improve, but it was just the intensity that he was not prepared for. I think he'd be the first to tell you that."

However over time, Mack made note of the fact that Igiehon had slowly been getting better. In the last sessions of practice during the 2019-20 season before it was cancelled, he said back in April that Igiehon "was a lot different than what we saw in August and September when he first arrived.”

But then COVID-19 came down hard, with a de facto quarantine coming with it. As a result, Igiehon found himself holed up in one of the worst places he could be - New York City. As of July 24, The Big Apple has had over 228,000 cases of the coronavirus with 22,934 deaths.

"While certain players on our team had access to a gym, or they were able to go outside, they were able to find maybe a local high school football stadium with a track and do some running - Aidan was in New York City," Mack said. "He was in a bad spot. He was relegated to his apartment a whole lot, or his house I should say."

Now that Igiehon is back on campus for NCAA-permitted summer access with his teammates and the Louisville coaching staff, he is picking up where he left off. While Mack thinks he has a long way to go, he has elevated expectations for Igiehon in his sophomore campaign.

"I think first Aidan's gotta get in great shape, and that's going to take a while. But I expect him to be the fastest big on our team," he said. "I expect him to play more like a metal-eater around the basket. Play with reckless abandon. If he does, then he'll have an impact on our team like we expect him to."

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