MORAGA — Aidan Mahaney, one of the Bay Area’s most celebrated high school players who went on to stand out at Saint Mary’s for two years, is leaving for the East Coast.
He told ESPN on Monday that he has committed to powerhouse UConn.
The 6-foot-3 guard joins a team that this month became the first to win back-to-back national championships since Florida did so in 2007.
“I chose UConn to be pushed, to be a part of something bigger than myself, to compete for a national championship and to become a pro,” Mahaney told ESPN.
Aidan Mahaney shoots against Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference championship game in March. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
Mahaney’s exit is one of many that has gutted Saint Mary’s roster this offseason. Last week, big man Joshua Jefferson transferred to Iowa State and highly-touted high school guard Zion Sensley of Archbishop Riordan de-committed from the program.
Mahaney was arguably the most productive player on the floor for Saint Mary’s since he graduated from nearby Campolindo High in 2022.
As a freshman, he averaged 13.2 points per game and shot 40% from behind the arc en route to an all-West Coast Conference first-team selection.
In his sophomore season, Mahaney averaged 13.9 points while leading the Gaels to the to their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Saint Mary’s, a No. 5 seed, fell to No. 12 Grand Canyon in the first round last month.
Mahaney got to see exactly how his new team operated last season when the Gaels played UConn in the second round of the NCAAs. Saint Mary’s lost to the Huskies 70-55 — a game in which Mahaney scored a team-high nine points.
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“The coaching staff doesn’t rebuild at UConn, they reload,” Mahaney told ESPN. “There is no tiptoeing around the fact that the program is going for it all again, and I am ready to be a part of that journey towards continued greatness. One game at a time, obviously, but the goals at UConn are set the moment you walk into the facilities. National champs.”
In a high school career affected by COVID, Mahaney ended every season with a victory until his senior year.
He won a state championship as a freshman and a NorCal title as a sophomore just before the pandemic shutdown. In a truncated spring season his junior year, Campo went undefeated.
In his senior season, Campo fell just short of another NorCal title, losing to Modesto Christian in the Open Division final.