Aher Uguak: Beast in the West
Aher Uguak is a household name in the Alberta basketball scene.
Playing for Harry Ainlay secondary, the 6’6, 210-pound small forward has been dominating the high school game within the province, as an eleventh grader.
Harry Ainlay is one of the top teams in the province, and Uguak is a big reason why. He is a mismtach problem with his strength down low, combined with skill on the perimeter.
Defensively, Uguak’s versatility is very impressive as he can guard basically every position on the floor.
Head Coach George Hoyt is in his 19th season coaching high school basketball. In his time, he points to two players before Uguak that he had, which displayed a similar dominance–University of Alberta star, 6’7 wing Jordan Baker and 6’4 point guard Adnan Hajdarevic who would ultimately play at Concordia.
“They were both dominant at the grade 12 level, but Aher is doing it in grade eleven,” Hoyt told North Pole Hoops.
“I don’t think I’ve had anyone at this age that dominant.”
When asked about how his star wing would match up on the national scene, Hoyt was confident.
“I think he can easily do it; in my opinion he has the physical tools to excel against the best, and his basketball skills are there…the hard thing for him is getting opportunity to play against that level.”
I have evaluated Uguak on multiple occasions over the summer, and I’m here to tell you that I haven’t seen any young Canadian prospect in the country at his age with the same physical make up.
Uguak is built like a fridge and is very effective finishing on the interior, over the defense or right through.
There are Canadian players like Christian David or Oshae Brissett, that are also very talented but are different in make up.
David is a skilled shooting guard at 6’5, wheras Oshae Brissett is the long and rangy type, hybrid forward.
Uguak’s gerth distinguishes him. Physically he looks ready for the next level, but he has both the right mentality and understanding that he is far from a complete product.
“He has great basketball I.Q and desire to be successful,” said Hoyt. “That seperates the good players from great, he wants to get better on a daily basis and wants to improve.”
Uguak is currently averaging 23.8 PPG, 13.7 RPG, 4.6 APG, 2.6 SPG on 57% shooting from the field.
“None of these numbers are good enough as far as he’s concerned,” explained Hoyt.
“I never like to put the limit on anything, especially for Aher…sky is the limit for him.”
