KU, Mizzou hoops recruit Aidan Shaw to leave Blue Valley High School for Link Academy
Blue Valley High School standout small forward Aidan Shaw, who recently made official men’s basketball recruiting trips to Kansas and Missouri, will transfer to Link Academy in Branson, Missouri for the 2021-22 school year, he announced Sunday night on Twitter.
Shaw, the No. 44-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2022 according to 247sports.com and No. 56-ranked player nationally according to Rivals.com, confirmed the news in a direct Twitter message to The Star.
At Link Academy, the 6-foot-8, 190-pound Shaw will be a teammate of major college prospects Bryson Warren, Tarris Reed and Trey Green. KU and MU are recruiting both Warren and Reed. Reed is a 6-8, 220-pound senior center who is moving to Link Academy from Chaminade High School in St. Louis. He is ranked No. 79 in the Class of 2022 by 247sports.com and No. 90 by Rivals.com.
Warren is a 6-2, 155-pound junior point guard formerly of Little Rock (Arkansas) Central High School. He is ranked No. 16 in the Class of 2023 by RIvals.com. Green is a 5-11 junior point guard formerly of Lake. Norman Christian School in Huntersville, North Carolina. He is unranked at this time. Green is being recruited by Wichita State, Nebraska, Boston College, South Florida and others.
This is the first season of Link Academy basketball at the high school level.
“Let me start by saying thank you for the last three years I’ve spent improving myself on and off the court. I could not have done any of it without the coaching staff, my teammates and other figures of influence,” Shaw wrote Sunday on Twitter in announcing his move to Link Academy.
“Over these last couple years my coaches and mentors have helped me to become the respectful, responsible and hardworking student-athlete that I am. This is a special thank you and farewell to Blue Valley and all its role models and mentors who have had an impact on my high school life. With that being said, for my next chapter I will be attending Link Academy for my senior year. #GoLions,” Shaw added.
The Link Hoops Twitter account wrote in response to Shaw’s commitment: “Let’s get it! We don’t even need to tell you how special this young man is!”
Shaw in recent weeks has made official recruiting visits to Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Iowa. He is planning on visiting Maryland officially this week and Arkansas on Aug. 6-8. He also is planning an August trip to USC.
He has also heard from coaches from Kansas State, Wichita State, Texas Tech, Creighton, Iowa State, Nebraska, TCU, Texas, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and others. Shaw has said he’d like to announce his college choice before the start of his senior season.
Shaw, who plays for MOKAN Elite AAU, recently fared well at the Pangos All-America camp in Las Vegas.
“One of the highest flyers from the Pangos camp was Aidan Shaw. In addition to throwing down some SportsCenter Top 10 quality dunks, Aidan was a beast on the boards and showed great touch between 15-18 feet,” wrote the Hoop’s Factory Twitter account.
Shaw averaged 19.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.5 blocks a game his junior year at Blue Valley H.S.
Recruiting analyst Max Feldman Tweeted: “Aidan Shaw has concrete long-term NBA prospect appeal. (He is a) multi-tooled defender with dynamic three-level scoring traits & natural shot creation.”
Wrote Colby Giacubeno of 247sports.com: “Shaw’s elite athleticism is what immediately makes him stand out. He’s an explosive leaper and continues to gain a better feel for the game as he plays significant time for MOKAN Elite EYBL. As the summer progresses, look for Shaw’s overall game to polish quickly considering the talent he’s playing with and against. Maryland got into the picture later than the other schools he’ll visit, but the fact the Terps earned an official visit so quickly leaves room to believe they’re pursuing Shaw with plenty of attention, and rightfully so.”
Shaw is the second Kansas City area basketball standout to switch schools for the 2021-22 school year. Mark Mitchell, a 6-8, 205-pound senior forward who has KU, Missouri, UCLA, Duke and others on his list of schools, announced a move from Bishop Miege to Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas, on June 5. He’s the No. 8-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2022 according to Rivals.com.