The trade rumors surrounding Cole Aldrich have died down, so let’s get to know the Minnesota native and Timberwolves big man…
Last year, Cole Aldrich was brought in by the Timberwolves to help with their front court depth behind Karl Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng. Aldrich is entering the second year of a three-year, $22 million deal, and at the age of just 28, he is ready to make an impact coming off the bench this season.
Aldrich’s 6’-11″ build and 7’-4” wingspan coupled with his grittiness on the court allows him to serve as an effective rim protector. Entering his eighth season in the league, he has carved out a role for himself in the NBA as a giant, but off the court he is a gentle giant.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at five interesting facts about one of the Timberwolves’ most likable players.
#1 – Hometown Hero
“I’ve been a Timberwolves fan my whole life.”
That’s what Aldrich said after signing a contract to return home and play professional basketball in the same city where he grew up.
Although this fact may be widely known among die-hard Timberwolves fans, it may be new information to others: Cole Aldrich was born and raised in Minnesota, just outside of the Twin Cities.
Aldrich was born in Burnsville, MN, which is about 15 miles outside of Minneapolis. He attended high school at Bloomington Jefferson, where he graduated in 2007. Aldrich enjoyed a successful high school basketball career, being named the state’s player of the year after his senior season by both major Twin Cities news publications.
Although Aldrich won his share of individual awards, he was unable to lead his team to a state title. The Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars were handed an early exit in the 2007 state tournament, losing to Apple Valley High School in the quarterfinals. Despite Aldrich’s 32-point, 21-rebound effort, Apple Valley ousted the Jaguars by a score of 68-66.
Cole Aldrich was a big-time recruit coming out of high school. Ranked as the #30 recruit in the class of 2007, Aldrich received a lot of Division I interest, but ultimately decided to take his talents to the University of Kansas and become a Jayhawk.
#2 – National Champion
Cole Aldrich enjoyed his fair share of success during his three years playing for Bill Self at national powerhouse Kansas. During his freshman year, Aldrich and the Jayhawks were national champions.
Although Aldrich wasn’t a starter during his freshman year due to multiple future NBA draft picks playing in the Jayhawks’ front court, he still made an impact off the bench. In the Final Four vs. North Carolina, Aldrich tallied seven points, eight rebounds, and four blocks in 16 minutes of action. See his highlights as Kansas rolled past the Tar Heels here:
After that game, Kansas went on to defeat future NBA MVP Derrick Rose and his Memphis Tigers during the national title game. While much of that Kansas team moved on to the NBA draft (including Aldrich’s future Timberwolves teammate, Brandon Rush), Cole Aldrich stayed in Lawrence for a couple more years and expanded his role from a bench player to an integral part of the Jayhawks team.
In 2009, Cole Aldrich returned to the NCAA tournament and recorded the first triple-double in the history of Kansas University basketball. He was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2009, and then he was named as a second-team All-American during the 2010 season.
#3 – The Missing Tooth
It’s no secret that Cole Aldrich has the smile of a hockey player. He can often be seen during games sporting his signature smile with the front tooth missing, but the real question is, how did he end up like that?
No, it didn’t come from blocking a slapshot; he actually lost it during a basketball game while playing at Kansas. Aldrich’s smile took shape during his freshman year of college, in a game against Kansas State. His front left tooth was chipped during a collision with a Wildcats player, and then was knocked out completely during practice the week following that game.
Aldrich has a fake tooth that he wears occasionally, but it’s always a toss-up as to whether or not he will be wearing it at any given time. During media day when Aldrich was playing for the Knicks, he was asked about his fake tooth, and he left his answer as ambiguous as possible:
#4 – Married His High School Sweetheart
For many, a high school sweetheart is a high school relationship and nothing more. For Cole Aldrich, he married his high school sweetheart and they are still together to this day.
On July 20, 2013, Cole Aldrich and Britt Claflin (Now Britt Aldrich) tied the knot back in their hometown at the Saint Paul Hotel. They are still married today, with no children, living just outside of the Twin Cities.
Bonus fact about Cole Aldrich: Before his wedding, Aldrich finished his communications degree online at Kansas University. He would spend downtime on team road trips studying. Aldrich only needed 20 credit hours to graduate after he was named Academic All-American of the year in his junior year at Kansas.
#5 – Gentle Giant
When Cole Aldrich isn’t protecting the rim, he’s doing all he can to give back to the community. Over the years, he has participated in many charitable endeavors, and always goes out of his way to help others.
Aldrich has been involved in multiple Starkey Hearing Foundation mission trips where people in underprivileged areas are fit for hearing aids. He took his first Starkey trip to Mexico in 2015, and then followed that up by going to Peru during this past offseason and fitting nearly 1,000 more people with brand new hearing aids.
Here’s a small clip of what he did on these trips:
In addition to that, he is involved in Kansas’ annual charity basketball game, “Rock Chalk Roundball Classic.” The founder of the charity basketball game, Brian Hanni, had nothing but positive things to say about Aldrich:
"“He’s a guy that gets it in terms of realizing the magnitude of his platform and his position of influence, and he utilizes that every chance he gets. He’s a guy who will always pay his own way, will always give an interview, will pick up his phone and send an inspirational video to one of our beneficiary kids. If they’re in a hospital bed going through chemotherapy and they just need a little boost, that’s Cole.”"
Although this article isn’t long enough to cover all of Aldrich’s charitable contributions, one of his most recent events was delivering over 600 backpacks of school supplies to a local elementary school.
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Cole Aldrich and his wife have a passion for giving back to the community, and they will continue to give back to the Twin Cities long after Aldrich retires.