Fardaws Aimaq Passes on UW for Texas Tech

The Canadian big man heads to the Big 12 rather than return to the Northwest.

Five months after exposing the University of Washington basketball team's biggest weakness — its hole in the middle — Fardaws Aimaq decided not to become its strength.

On Friday, the 6-foot-11, 245-pound Canadian revealed he will transfer to Texas Tech rather than give Mike Hopkins' team its second new big man in three days.

Over 72 hours, the Huskies had a chance to get a lot taller and much more physical. 

Aimaq, formerly of Utah Valley and Mercer and one of the nation's leading rebounders, would have lined up alongside 6-foot-11, 250-pound Franck Kepnang, who hails from Cameroon and is formerly of the Oregon Ducks. 

Both paint players went up against the UW this past season in what would prove to be unintentional auditions and they shared in lopsided victories, with Kepnang actually splitting a home-and-home series against the Huskies.

Aimaq also considered early entry to the NBA draft and Gonzaga, Iowa and Texas. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining should he choose to use them.

Four days before Christmas, Aimaq, from Vancouver, B.C., came to Seattle for a non-conference game at Alaska Airlines Arena and he had his way with a Husky front line built around 6-foot-11, 265-pound junior Nate Roberts.

Aimaq supplied 15 points and 15 rebounds in Utah Valley's surprisingly easy 68-52 victory over the UW. 

Having since left the program and passed on a final year of eligibility, Roberts was a well-liked member of the Husky  basketball team during his time in Seattle. Unfortunately, he showed that personality will only carry you so far.

Against Utah Valley and Aimaq, Roberts scored the first points of their December matchup on a layup — and he never scored again that night.

Meantime, Aimaq worked the paint for an assortment of jumpers and owned the backboards to enable his Western Athletic Conference team to pull away from a three-point lead at intermission and win easily. He scored the final four points of the game on free throws.

A third-year sophomore this past season, Aimaq averaged 19 points and 14 rebounds an outing for a 20-12 team, repeated as a first-team All-WAC selection and earned WAC Defensive Player of the Year honors for a second time. 

The year before for Utah Valley, he led the nation in rebounding at 15 per game, becoming the first collegian in 40 years to average that many, was named the 2021 WAC Player of the Year.

Yet Aimaq will now turn to Texas Tech.

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