Tennessee Basketball Assistant Justin Gainey Discusses Signee Jonas Aidoo

Tennessee Vols Basketball Assistant Coach Justin Gainey Discusses Four-Star Center UT Commit Jonas Aidoo

Four-star center Jonas Aidoo from the Charlotte Liberty Heights Institute has committed to UT after decommitting from Marquette. Ranked as the highest rated post player to commit to UT under coach Rick Barnes, Aidoo gives the Vols a nearly seven-foot 215-pound post presence. Tennessee also hired former Marquette assistant Justin Gainey in mid-April, who played a key role in helping the Vols land Aidoo for 2021. 

When asked to give his thoughts on Aidoo’s development as a player, Gainey had nothing but praise for how far the young man has come.

"First of all, Jonas is a high, high character young man. Through the process to get to where he is now, he is definitely what people would call a late bloomer. He took off a bit slow, had to figure it out. Hit a late growth spurt. Had to transfer his guard skills into being a seven-footer, so people didn't really follow him early on. So, because of that I think he has a humbleness and likability to him that has allowed him to not be scarred by some of the things that come with being highly touted at a young age."

Gainey believes Aidoo’s work ethic and engaging personality will form a connection with teammates and fans on and off the court. 

"He's a high character young man that comes from a great family and support system. He's also a hard worker that loves the game of basketball and loves to work at it. He wants nothing more than to be in the gym improving on and working on his game. Then, he has a great personality especially for a big. He's got a little kid in him where he just wants to have fun. I don't know if you all have seen his Tik Tok numbers, but they are ridiculous. I have been trying to get him to teach me to be more popular on Tik Tok. I don't know if there's any hope for me on that. But, he just has a great sense of humor and a great way about himself that I think the fans and his teammates are going to love from a basketball standpoint."

Gainey acknowledges Aidoo’s raw talent as a basketball player and believes he can improve his game even more.

"He's a really skilled player. He's a seven-foot skilled player. He can play with his back to the basket. He can play facing the basket, he can handle it a bit and can do a bit of everything. I think the biggest area of his game we're going to need to improve is on the physical nature of his game and his ability to handle the physicality of the college game and I think all freshman have that learning curve."

Aidoo is ranked as the No. 60 overall prospect and No. 7 overall center in the 247Sports Composite for the 2021. The big man out of Charlotte, North Carolina will look to make an immediate impact on Rocky Top as he joins a 2021 recruiting class that already consists of five-star point guard Kennedy Chandler and five-star power forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield.