College Commitment: Aaron Deloney (2019 Grant HS)
For Aaron Deloney, the next step in his basketball odyssey is set. The quick 6-foot point guard from Grant High School had a college recruitment that had its twists and turns, but in the end he found the right place for his future. After making his official visit to Vermont this past weekend, Deloney decided on Monday to become a Catamount next season.
“Honestly I felt like that it was the right fit,” Deloney said. “All of the coaches there really liked me and were easy about it, they weren’t forcing me to commit but it was a real relationship and that was nice. All of the staff were cool people and the area was nice and I liked it – it was similar to Portland, just a little more cold. It felt like a nice fit.
Deloney went into detail about his official visit. “First, I went to their practice which was pretty good and we ate at a lot of different places – they fed us a lot, probably more than we really needed but that was fun,” Deloney said “We went down by the water which was about 10 minutes from campus which was pretty nice. I’ve only been to the East Coast for EYBL tournaments but other than that I’d never been out there at all, so it was nice to see new things.”
Of course, the fit on the basketball floor was key for Deloney and the combination of being a part of a winning program and playing right away factored into his decision. “Vermont is always on the top of their conference and made the (NCAA) tourney in 2017,” Deloney said. “They want me to play as soon as possible. They’ve got a good senior guard right now and their starting senior guard last year played for the Bucks summer league and is overseas now – they want me to come in and do the same thing that they’ve been doing. Be a scoring guard who can penetrate and set up other people as well.”
A tireless worker, Deloney continues to get stronger and keep on honing his game for the next level. Getting ready for college is definitely what he wants to do, but there’s obviously more work immediately ahead his senior year. “We definitely have to win another state championship and go back-to-back,” Deloney said. “I know we lost a lot of seniors last year but hopefully me and Ty (Rankin) can help lead our young to the Chiles Center and win it again.”
Deloney currently ranks as the #2 player in the PrepHoops Oregon Class of 2019 rankings. With his commitment, Deloney joins Marcus Tsohonis of Jefferson (Washington) and Jaden Nielsen-Skinner (Portland State) as seniors who will be signing with their college programs in the early signing period that starts next Wednesday.