Gwinnett Daily Post

His brother, Alade, is on the team.

His former high school teammate, Gani Lawal, is there, too.

So it seemed like a slam dunk that rising Norcross senior Al-Farouq Aminu was going to be part of the Georgia Tech basketball program as well when he announced his college intentions Thursday.

But, with apologies for the mixed metaphor, the younger Aminu threw everyone a curveball when he and his Georgia Stars' teammate Tony Woods made public commitments to Wake Forest at the Peach Jam in Augusta.

"The truth is, sometimes these guys want to blaze their own trail," Georgia Stars head coach Norm Parker told Scout.com.

"I think that's what Al-Farouq wanted to do. He respects Coach (Paul) Hewitt, he respects Georgia Tech and he told me he had a tough decision."

Aminu, who is ranked as the No. 3 player in the country by both Scout.com and Rivals.com, had been recruited by almost all the major basketball programs in the southeast. Earlier in the summer, he eliminated national power North Carolina from contention and trimmed his final list to Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, further fueling speculation that he inevitably would be a Yellow Jacket.

But instead of playing with his older brother and former Norcross teammate for at least a year or two, he'll be playing against them.

Aminu averaged 14.1 points and a team-high 9.5 rebounds last year in helping lead the Blue Devils to their second straight Class AAAAA state title. As a 6-foot-8 forward that can handle the ball and shoot the 3, Aminu is considered one of the most versatile big men in the country. As a junior he had monster games against teams like Oak Hill (Va.), Peachtree Ridge and Arlington Country Day (Fla.), raising his stock even higher in the minds of recruiters and scouts.

The Daily Post All-County performer admitted in June the recruiting process had taken a toll on him and he wanted to end it sooner rather than later.

Sooner came Thursday.

Actually, it came Wednesday night when he phoned Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser and told him the good news.

On Thursday, he and Woods delivered the word to their AAU teammates.

"Tony and I want to make an announcement to the team," Aminu told Parker after the Stars' first game of the day.

He then told his teammates the decision basketball fans in Winston-Salem were dying to hear: "We're going to Wake Forest."

Aminu becomes the highest-rated recruit to commit to Wake Forest since some point guard named Chris Paul.

"When it was all said and done," Parker said, "Wake did a good job of recruiting him and he felt comfortable with them in the end."