You might not be able to tell by his stoic demeanor on the court or his soft-spoken words off it. But for the first time as a college basketball player, C.J. Aiken is having fun.
And every Saint Josephs basketball fan is having fun watching him.
There were times when it was a chore to play basketball for him, St. Joes head coach Phil Martelli admitted shortly after Aikens nine blocks propelled the Hawks to a convincing 62-49 win over Drexel on Wednesday. Now he enjoys it.
How, you might wonder, could basketball ever seem like chore for a 6-foot-9 athletic freak who looks like he belongs in an NBA Jam game the way he dunks and blocks? Why wouldnt it be fun playing collegiately just miles away from the high school you led to a state championship?
Well, as charmed as Aikens life may have looked from the outside, the truth was there were some very difficult adjustments the former Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School star had to make when he arrived on campus.
For starters, as simple as it may sound, he missed home, going back as often as he could to see friends and familyand, he adds with a grin, for the home-cooked meals especially.
Even living 15 minutes away, he struggled with homesickness, Martelli said. He stuck it out because his mom and family believed in me. It wasnt easy. I dont think its ever easy for a big guy because everyone expects so much.
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Aiken performed reasonably well his first year, setting the Hawks freshman record for blocked shots with 117. But for an ultra-hyped player who arrived at St. Joes at the reigning Pennsylvania Quad-A High School Player of the Year, his 7.4-points-per-game average just wasnt good enough for some. And it certainly wasnt good enough to help the Hawks avoid their second straight 20-loss season.
Things quickly got better for Aiken, though. Forgetting about the high school hype, he worked to turn himself into a better college player. He put muscle on his skinny frame and is now excited to report he weighs 200 pounds. Hes become more accustomed to college life, staying on campus a lot more than last year. And, perhaps best of all, the humble, quiet kid has actually been caught smiling from time to time.
Hes just more comfortableI dont know if theres any other way to put it, Martelli said. I believe C.J. knows I have his back. Im not going to let him be embarrassed or talked about. The best part for me is he really seems to be enjoying basketball. Its not a task he has to do.
Im definitely a lot more confident, I think because of my teammates, Aiken said from the Hawks happy locker room following Wednesdays win. The guys like to have fun, so Ive been having fun. Ive got a lot more confidence than last year.
That confidence was on full display Wednesday at Hagan Arena as Aiken had nine of the Hawks 16 blocked shots as St. Joes improved to an impressive 5-2 on the young season. The nine blocks matched a career-high for Aiken and the 16 blocks shattered a school record.
Heading into Sundays road game against American (8 p.m.), Aiken is averaging 12.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.9 blocks per game, while shooting a blistering 64.8 percent from the field.
And heres the most impressive stat of all: he currently leads the nation in blocked shots.
How does Martelli explain Aikens success?
Extraordinary coaching, the St. Joes coach deadpanned. I work with him every day on how to block shots. No, its god-given.And you know what people should always understand about him? He never shows out. He doesnt react on an alley-oop. He doesnt react on a block. Hes just a beautiful, beautiful kid. And Im delighted hes having such a good start to the season.
And theres more there. He can do more.
House of horrors
On Saturday evening, Penn will play its only Big 5 contest of the season not at the Palestra when it takes on Villanova at the Pavilion (ESPN3, 7 p.m.).
If history is a judge, the Quakers may be longing for the historic gym on 33rd Street as soon as the game begins.
Penn has never won at the Pavilion, and in their last two trips to Villanovas home arena, the Quakers lost by an average margin of 32 points.
Of course, this Penn team, which is coming off a defeat of Manhattan on Tuesday that pushed them to 4-4, looks to be better than in recent years and already took Temple to the brink in its Big 5 opener.
Villanova (5-2), meanwhile, comes into Saturdays matchup sputtering, having lost two straight games in Anaheim, to Santa Clara and Saint Louis.
One more reason to think Saturdays game may not be too lopsided? A little more than two weeks ago, Nova needed overtime to beat a heavy underdog in La Salle in its Big 5 opener.
Going down with injuriesretuning from injuries
After a game at the Palestra, three in Puerto Rico and one in Ohio, Temple is finally coming home when it faces Central Michigan in its Liacouras Center opener Saturday at 4 p.m.
But the Owls (3-2) will be doing so without starting center Michael Eric, who reinjured his right patella during a Nov. 25 practice and is expected to be sidelined for six weeks.
Eric, who missed the final 10 games of the 2010-11 season, was off to good start, averaging 10.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, the latter of which led the Atlantic 10.
The Owls, who are already without swingman Scootie Randall, will now need to rely even more on their dynamic guards, as well as redshirt freshman forward Anthony Lee, who made his first career start in last weekends loss to Bowling Green.
While Temple is losing players to injury, La Salle and Drexel are getting some back.
After missing three straight games with a concussion, Explorers guard Ramon Galloway returned to action last Friday, helping La Salle go 2-1 in its last three contests.
Heading into Saturdays home game vs. Bucknell (4 p.m.), Galloway, a transfer from South Carolina, is averaging 12.0 points per game in his first season for the Explorers (5-3).
Drexel, meanwhile, got back its leading scorer from last year in Chris Fouch, who made his season debut in Wednesdays loss to St. Joes.
Fouch was held mostly in check, scoring five points on 2-of-10 shooting for the Dragons (2-3). But head coach Bruiser Flint is glad to have one of his top guards back in the swing of things.
Chris will be fine, Flint said. He only had two days of practice. We asked him before the game and he said he felt fine. But hes been telling me hes feeling fine for a while. What it does a little is it gives us some normalcy in our rotation.
Six in the City is a weekly feature on the citys six Division I college basketball programs written by CSNPhilly.com contributor Dave Zeitlin. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.