Peyton Aldridge is a legitimate Division I basketball prospect, the kind of player with both the talent and size to build a solid highlight reel across four prep seasons and whatever college game action comes after.
Unfortunately for Aldridge, at the moment the most notable play he’s been involved in is one of the stranger bloopers you’ll see, where a loose ball ricocheted directly off his face into the waiting hands of an opponent in the paint. The result was a picture perfect assist -- unintentional though it may have been -- for the other team.
The clip above was taken from the 2013 Dunk 4 Diabetes, an Ohio tournament that donates proceeds to the American Diabetes Association. The event has received cameos from high profile coaches like Kentucky head man John Calipari in the past, marking it as a mid-winter prep hoops recruiting hotbed.
Aldridge was there to compete with his Warren (Ohio) LaBrae High squad against Malvern (Ohio) High. The 6-foot-7 junior certainly seemed to be holding his own, but found himself boxed out on a play near the hoop. That’s when one of his teammates swerved in for an impressive block, only for the rejection to deflect off the Malvern post player’s hand, flat off Aldridge’s face and right back into the waiting hands of the Malvern player, who quickly dropped in a layup.
It was the kind of play that would be impossible to reenact, though it is awfully enjoyable to watch more than once.
All ended well for Aldridge and his LaBrae teammates, too, with LaBrae pulling out a 61-57 victory in overtime. Aldridge was a big part of that, scoring 12 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking 7 shots.
That’s a full stat line, with or without his unintended assist.
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