Former Raritan Star Mike Aaman Transferring to Wagner

Mike Aaman, a former two-time Shore Conference Player of the Year at Raritan, will continue his career at Wagner College after transferring from the University of Rhode Island, Rockets boys basketball coach Denis Caruano said late Sunday night.

The 6-foot-8, 210-pound power forward originally committed to Wagner out of Raritan in 2012 to play for coach Dan Hurley, but then pivoted to Rhode Island after Hurley got the job there. Aaman has three years of eligibility left after playing in 25 games as a freshman for URI and then only five games this past season.

Aaman is Raritan's all-time leading scorer with 1,330 points and led them to their second Shore Conference Tournament title in program history during his junior season. This past winter, he had a rocky sophomore year at Rhode Island in which he averaged 3 points and 2.4 rebounds in only five games and was involved in an altercation off campus in December in which he was assaulted and suffered a concussion. Earlier in the season, he underwent an emergency appendectomy that kept him out of the lineup. Aaman did not return to the team after the altercation and took a semester off from school because of the effects of the concussion.

Aaman initially feared his career might be over after suffering seven concussions over his lifetime, five of them basketball-related, but looked rejuvenated in dominating the Jersey Shore Basketball League this summer. On Aug. 7, he received his release from Rhode Island, and he has been medically cleared to play for coach Bashir Mason at Wagner, according to Caruano.