Men's Basketball Lands Seven-Foot Star, Arden Begaj
6/10/2024 6:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Has Experience With U-18 Albanian and U-16 Canadian National Teams
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida men's basketball adds Arden Begaj to its signing class arsenal as a seven-foot Canadian from Bill Crothers Secondary School, as announced by head coach Matthew Driscoll and staff on Monday afternoon.
Begaj comes from a family that is originally from Albania, which allowed him to compete in the U-18 FIBA European Championship in Portugal for the Albanian National Team in 2023. During a seven-game span at the event, he averaged 14.9 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 1.7 APG and 1.3 BPG. He was also the valedictorian at United Scholastic Academy Canada and an alternate on Team Canada U-16.
The Toronto, Canada, native is the first Canadian signee for the Ospreys since D'Andre Bernard in 2015-16, who also attended Bill Crothers Secondary School. He is also one of two signees in UNF's 2024 signing class that come into the program internationally, joining Nestor Dyachok from Moscow, Russia.
Begaj keeps the Osprey '24 signing class rolling joining Josh Harris, Alex Vargo, Dyachok, Liam Murphy, Dante Oliver and Kamrin Oriol. He joins Harris and Oliver as incoming freshmen on the UNF roster for the 2024-25 season.
Position: Forward
Class: Freshman
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
High School: Bill Crothers Secondary School
Height: 7-0
Weight: 205
Coach Driscoll on Arden
"Arden [Begaj] has a way bigger servant's heart than his height of 7'0". Arden grew from 6'1" as an eighth grader to his present stature and has a mature disposition about how he carries himself on a daily basis on the floor and at a high level in the classroom. He checks every single box when it comes to the qualities that he possess, including amazing touch around the rim and from deep, ball handling with passing acuity and tremendous timing to block shots with both hands. Arden's international play with two different national teams will bode well for him from a competitive physicality perspective."
-- head coach Matthew Driscoll
Begaj comes from a family that is originally from Albania, which allowed him to compete in the U-18 FIBA European Championship in Portugal for the Albanian National Team in 2023. During a seven-game span at the event, he averaged 14.9 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 1.7 APG and 1.3 BPG. He was also the valedictorian at United Scholastic Academy Canada and an alternate on Team Canada U-16.
The Toronto, Canada, native is the first Canadian signee for the Ospreys since D'Andre Bernard in 2015-16, who also attended Bill Crothers Secondary School. He is also one of two signees in UNF's 2024 signing class that come into the program internationally, joining Nestor Dyachok from Moscow, Russia.
Begaj keeps the Osprey '24 signing class rolling joining Josh Harris, Alex Vargo, Dyachok, Liam Murphy, Dante Oliver and Kamrin Oriol. He joins Harris and Oliver as incoming freshmen on the UNF roster for the 2024-25 season.
Arden Begaj
Position: ForwardClass: Freshman
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
High School: Bill Crothers Secondary School
Height: 7-0
Weight: 205
Coach Driscoll on Arden
"Arden [Begaj] has a way bigger servant's heart than his height of 7'0". Arden grew from 6'1" as an eighth grader to his present stature and has a mature disposition about how he carries himself on a daily basis on the floor and at a high level in the classroom. He checks every single box when it comes to the qualities that he possess, including amazing touch around the rim and from deep, ball handling with passing acuity and tremendous timing to block shots with both hands. Arden's international play with two different national teams will bode well for him from a competitive physicality perspective."
-- head coach Matthew Driscoll
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