Charles Justin "C. J." Aiken (born September 27, 1990) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a Private university, private Jesuits, Jesuit university in Philadelphia, Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Jesuits, Society of J ...

College career

In his three-year college career at Saint Joseph's, Aiken played 98 games (82 starts) while averaging 9.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.3 blocks in 30.2 minutes per game. Over his stint, he was one of the top shot-blockers in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

as he earned

Atlantic 10 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located mostly on the East Coast and Midwest of the ...

Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2011–12. In April 2013, Aiken declared for the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

, forgoing his final year of college eligibility.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2013 NBA draft The 2013 NBA draft was held on June 27, 2013, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including internation ...

, Aiken joined the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

for the

Las Vegas Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season basketball competition organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA). NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regula ...

in July and the team's mini-camp in September. On November 1, 2013, Aiken was selected by the

Texas Legends The Texas Legends are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Frisco, Texas, and are affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks. The Legends play their home games at the Comerica Center. The team began as the Colorado 14 ...

with the fifth overall pick in the 2013 NBA Development League Draft. Three days later, he was traded to the Erie BayHawks in exchange for Terrel Harris. He managed just six games for the BayHawks in 2013–14 as he averaged 4.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. On January 27, 2015, Aiken was reacquired by the BayHawks. However, he was waived two days later before appearing in a game for them. On September 7, 2015, Aiken signed with

Wilki Morskie Szczecin The King Wilki Morskie Szczecin is a Polish professional basketball team based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian. King Szczecin competes in the Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK), the top tier league in Poland. The club was founded in 2004 and made its d ...

of the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English language, English: Polish Basketball League), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Poland. I ...

. In March 2017, Aiken signed with

Bendigo Braves Bendigo Braves is a NBL1 South club based in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Bendigo Basketball Association, the major administrative basketball organisatio ...

South East Australian Basketball League The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was a semi-professional basketball league in Australia comprising both a men's and women's competition. The SEABL began in 1981 and operated for 38 seasons until it was disbanded in 2018. The ...

(SEABL) club based in

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

, Victoria. Aiken averaged 20.2 points, 12.4 rebounds, 2.0 assist, and 1.6 blocks. Aiken won the leagues defensive player of the year. He finished second in the league for rebounds per game with 12.4 per game as well as second overall for boards and third for defensive boards. In September 2017, Aiken signed with

Czarni Słupsk Czarni Słupsk, more commonly known as Icon Sea Czarni Słupsk because of sponsorship reasons, is a Polish basketball team, based in Słupsk, playing in Polish Basketball League (PLK). The home arena of the club was Hala Gryfia. History In July ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

team, based in

Słupsk Słupsk (; ; ) is a city with powiat rights located on the Słupia River in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland, in the historical region of Pomerania or more specifically in its part known in contemporary Poland as Central Pomerania ...

, playing in

Tauron Basket Liga Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) ( English: Polish Basketball League), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional men's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier leve ...

. He averaged 11.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks. In January 2018, Aiken signed with

Niagara River Lions The Niagara River Lions are a Canadian professional basketball team based in St. Catharines, Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Niagara, that competes in the Canadian Elite Basketball League. From 2015 to 2018, they were members of the Natio ...

. A Canadian professional

team based in

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, that competes in the

Canadian Elite Basketball League The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL; ) is the premier men's professional basketball league in Canada, as recognized by Canada Basketball. The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams all owned and operated by owner ...

. In March 2018, Aiken signed with the

Kia Picanto The Kia Picanto is a city car that has been produced by the South Korean car manufacturer, Kia, since 2003. Other names of the car include Kia Morning () in South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan (first two generations) and Chile, Kia EuroStar in Taiwan ...

of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

as their import for the

2018 PBA Commissioner's Cup The 2018 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup, also known as the 2018 Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufac ...

. In October 2018, Aiken signed with

Tuři Svitavy Tuři Svitavy is a professional basketball team that plays in the top professional Czech basketball league, the NBL. The team is based in the town of Svitavy Svitavy (; ) is a town in Svitavy District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Repub ...

that plays in the top professional Czech basketball league, the NBL. In July 2019, Aiken signed with

PVSK Panthers PVSK-Panthers, for sponsorship reasons known as PVSK-Veolia or simply Pécs, is a men's basketball club based in Pécs, Hungary. It was the oldest non-Budapest based basketball club playing in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A, the first division of Hun ...

in the NB I/A. On July 7, 2020, Aiken signed with Hungarian club

Kaposvári KK Kaposvári KK, also known as Kometa Kaposvári KK for sponsorship reasons, is a Hungarian professional basketball team based in Kaposvár, Hungary. The team plays in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A (men's basketball), Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A, the highes ...

of the NB I/A. On September 29, 2020, Aiken left the team due to injury. On January 8, 2022, Aiken signed with

Taoyuan Pauian Archiland The Taoyuan Pauian Archiland (), also translated as Taoyuan Pure-Youth Construction, was a semi-professional basketball team formerly in the Super Basketball League (SBL) of Taiwan. History The franchise derived its history from the celebrated ...

of the Taiwanese

Super Basketball League The Super Basketball League (), often abbreviated as the SBL, is a men's semi-pro basketball league in Taiwan. Teams Current teams * Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行) * Changhua Pauian BLL (彰化璞園柏力力) * Taiwan Beer (台灣啤酒) ...

. In February 2023, Aiken signed with Al Gharafa in Doha, Qatar of the Qatar Basketball Federation.

References

External links