Bad news, bracket busters and buzzer beaters.
The sweetest court-storming of this basketball season has been secured, with a swish, and it happened before March Madness even tipped off.
Others are now shooting for second place, thanks to Aiden Hadican.
Friday morning’s senior basketball scrimmage at De Smet, the crescendo of the school’s annual Mission Week, got turned on its head in the best way at its halftime, when the show was stolen by one special freshman.
“Everybody who pays a dollar gets to shoot a half-court shot,†De Smet basketball coach Kent Williams said. “He was the last one to come through. And then, bam! He made it!â€
And then?
Aiden’s classmates went wilder than Cameron Crazies. The court looked like De Smet had beaten Duke’s Blue Devils. Speaking of Duke, I’m not sure Blue Devil turned Boston Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum could have made the shot Aiden swished on a first attempt.
People are also reading…
It’s 2024, so of course there is a video of Aiden’s star turn. Just as awesome is the story behind it. Here it is.
This school year 14-year-old freshman Aiden, who has Down syndrome, became the first of two students who helped launch De Smet’s inclusive education program.
Brian Hadican and his wife, Barrett, were influential in starting the conversation that led to De Smet becoming the first Catholic all-boys Jesuit high school to start such a program. It allows individuals with physical or intellectual disabilities to remain with their peers in general education settings as much as possible. Championed by principal Kevin Poelker, the approach let Aiden stick with his classmates from Incarnate Word who attended De Smet. Junior and senior peer mentors are paired with Aiden throughout his school day. They’re learning as much from Aiden as they are teaching him.
Aiden had been having a fantastic freshman year — and that was the case before he became Mr. Big Shot.
Brian checked his phone during work Friday morning to see a text message from his alma mater.
“Aiden just hit a half-court shot in front of the whole school,†it read. “Legend. And I think we got it on video.â€
In the video you see Aiden pumping up the crowd before he takes the ball from Coach Williams. You see Aiden’s classmates return his enthusiasm, raising the roof right back in his direction. You see Williams delivering a quick pep talk to Aiden before he steps back and gets the second-best view of the shot. You see the basketball go up. You realize it’s got a shot.
“That one looked like it had the distance and it looked like it was on line,†Williams said. “Just swish. It didn’t touch the rim or anything else.â€
You see the students swarm the floor in a cyclone of jumping arms and hooting and hollering. You see Aiden. Then you don’t see Aiden. You watch him disappear in a joy cyclone.
“They almost knocked me down, they were so excited,†said De Smet director of communications Debbie Higgins, who was recording video along with a yearbook photographer and a couple of students in the stands.
Hold on just one second. Back to Coach Williams. What was that pre-shot pep talk all about?
“Come on, man, do it just like you do it in the gym, when there’s no one else here,†Williams said he told Aiden.
Aiden, turns out, is a frequent visitor to the gym near Williams’ office. He knows the coach from attending basketball games with his family. Aiden often high-fives and fist-bumps Williams in the hallway to wish him good luck before games. He routinely stops in the coach’s office to grab a ball to shoot around during gym time.
Aiden’s interest in sports should come as no surprise. Lifelong ºüÀêÊÓƵans Brian and Barrett met as SLU soccer players before they married and had three children, of which Aiden is the oldest. Aiden helped out the freshman soccer team this fall. He has one very specific favorite part of basketball. He doesn’t much mess around with layups and free throws. He’s going for distance. From way downtown.
“I’ve seen him nail half-court shots several times in there,†Williams said.
There are a lot more witnesses today.
De Smet posted the video of Aiden’s shot and the court-storming that followed. It was approaching 200,000 views as the weekend ended. Aiden didn’t just make an incredibly hard shot. He made the cold, hard internet an overwhelmingly positive place. Impossible? Not for Aiden.
Aiden’s heroics appeared on multiple local TV news broadcasts over the weekend. (SportsCenter, a little help here?) No word yet on if he has signed any autographs. High fives? Plenty.
“Aiden thinks he’s famous, which is great,†Brian said. “Everybody keeps asking about the shot, the shot, the shot. But you know what the best part about the video is? The kids rushing the court. Their reaction tells you what the inclusion program means.â€
Swish, indeed.