Prospect Profile: Sataievior Ayilola (Central Catholic HS/Rose City Rebels 17U)
It’s been an interesting time on the AAU circuit so far for Sataievior Ayilola. The athletic 6-foot-8, 225-pound big man from Central Catholic High School started the spring playing with the Team Bradley Northwest Panthers squad in the adidas Uprising. But two weekends ago, he went to Atlanta with the Rose City Rebels on the EYBL and it was a different experience for him.
“It’s been fun playing with this new team,” Ayilola said. “I played OK but it was the first time
together with this team so I didn’t want to come in and do too much. But I felt I made an impact in
different ways, defensively and with rebounding.”
As opposed to the Panthers which are based in the Seattle area, the Rebels consist of players Ayilola has faced often back home in Portland. He likes that familiarity as well as what he can add to the squad. “I have a bigger role on this team,” Ayilola said. “On Team Bradley I really didn’t do much. Here it’s different.”
To that end, Ayilola stated that his hope is to stay on with the Rebels for the rest of the summer. It’s an off-season where he’s been honed in on what he wants to improve with his game. “I’ve been trying to get better on my jumper outside,” Ayilola said. “I also want to improve my ball-
handling and I’m trying to get in better shape too.”
Considering his combination of size, athleticism, and potential, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that college programs have paid close attention to Ayilola. He’s been hearing from the likes of Washington, Pepperdine, San Diego State, and Eastern Washington among others and he does have some early favorites.
“I’d like to stay in the Pac-12,” Ayilola said. “Different conferences have different styles and I like
the way the game is played there. It’s close to home too.”
Any kind of college decision will have to wait though as there’s still games to played on the AAU circuit. The summer will be one in which Ayilola is setting some high expectations. “The team hasn’t been winning too many games so I’d like to win every game from now on,” he said.