Get to Know Fordham's Incoming Freshman Class

Interesting bits and stats about Fordham's incoming high-school recruits: Aleksander Pachucki, Ryan Pettis, and Jaden Smith.

With the completion of the academic high school year and collegiate summer sessions across the country beginning, Fordham’s incoming freshman trio will soon be arriving on campus to begin their journeys as Fordham Rams. The summer months are critical for building rapport and chemistry before the season begins in early November. Fordham’s freshman class came together slowly, as recruiting in general this year was heavily affected by a high volume of transfer portal movement. Ryan Pettis, a 6’4” combo-guard out of Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, CA, announced his commitment in mid October 2023. Aleksander Pachucki, a 6’6” guard from the Hoosac School in Hoosick, NY, joined Pettis by announcing his commitment to join the Rams in late March 2024. Jaden Smith, a 6’11” center from Kenwood Academy in Chicago, IL, would be the third commitment of this recruiting class after de-committing from Arizona State in late April.

This article will include stats, highlights, and high school/AAU affiliation for each newcomer, as well as how I envision their potential impact in their freshman year. Obviously, a lot can change between now and November. Underlined phrases include hyperlinks!

Aleksander Pachucki

High School: Hoosac School

Senior Season Stats: 18 PPG, 5 RPG, 4 APG, 2 SPG

AAU Program: City Rocks EYBL

Fordham was Pachucki’s first division one offer, which didn’t come until late March of 2024. The team’s official press release provides a great overview of Pachucki’s performance over the last year at Hoosac. Pachucki was Hoosac’s primary scoring option this past year and earned himself first team All-NEPSAC AAA honors—one of the most competitive prep leagues in the country. Other first-team honorees are heading to Arizona State, Providence, Boston College, and Towson, and the underclassmen have heavy high-major interest.

In an interview with SuperBasket’s Szymon Woźnik, Pachucki discussed his development in Canada and his transition to playing in the United States. He describes himself as having combo-guard abilities with the preference to be a shooting-guard. He mentions that his goal is to become a professional basketball player and that he would be particularly interested in playing in Poland one day. Pachucki’s mother is Filipino and his father is Polish, which has already opened up unique playing opportunities for him. He competed with Fil-Can National Select this spring at the Manila 19U Championship in the Philippines.

Pachucki is a streaky shooter who went under the radar in his recruitment. He’s shown the ability to hit catch-and-shoot threes and shoot off the dribble with several prolific shooting performances at Hoosac this past season. Pachucki poured in 48 points on 14 made threes against the number one prep team in the country, Putnam Science Academy, in a 103-102 thrilling win. When Pachucki found his stroke from deep, he put up big numbers. His top performances this season included 14, 8 (x2), and 7 made threes.

How can Pachucki make an impact as a freshman? Shooting. The last two seasons, Fordham has attempted 24 & 25.5 three-point shots per game as a team, despite only shooting 31.5% and 31.8% from three in those seasons. If Pachucki can hit threes off the bench, he will earn minutes. Pachucki also provides intriguing length on the perimeter at 6’6”, giving him natural tools to be a plus defender, but may need to put on some size first. You can never have enough three-point shooting, and in years past, Fordham may not have had enough.

Ryan Pettis

High School: Junipero Serra High School

Senior Season Stats: 14.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG

AAU Program: Team Lillard 3SSB

Ryan Pettis was the first commit to join the incoming class of 2028 when he chose Fordham over Pacific, Long Beach State, Weber State, and Montana in mid October. He signed his NLI shortly after, in early November. During his senior season this year, Pettis earned Third-Team California All-State honors while leading Junipero Serra into the quarterfinals of the California Interscholastic Federation D1 playoffs. Pettis signed a NIL deal with PathWater, a purified water company that sells water in 100% recycled aluminum bottles.

Pettis had the opportunity to play in London through a BTM Basketball USA vs. UK Showcase during the summer of 2023. This Instagram video with his trainer, Leo Svete, discusses his goal to improve his shotmaking during his Senior season. An interesting note from the video, Coach Urgo recruited Pettis’ trainer Svete to potentially come to Penn State out of high school, so a connection and familiarity were there.

On the court, Pettis is a very athletic combo-guard with the ability to drive to the rim and finish. He’s a good facilitator and placed a big focus of his training in his senior year on becoming a more consistent shooter from the perimeter. He demonstrated the ability to create for himself and for teammates, as well as catch-and-shoot and off-the-dribble shooting ability throughout his high school highlights. His coach at Junipero Serra described him as having the ability to “do everything,” and Urgo’s comments in the official release echoed the same. A lot of Serra’s game highlights are available on YouTube.

How can Pettis make an impact as a freshman? Shooting and defense. With a lot of experience in the Fordham backcourt in Medor, Johnson III, Richardson, and Riley, I’m not expecting to see Pettis heavily involved in the offense this year. I am intrigued by his developmental potential as a two-way guard in the A10. However, like Pachucki, if he’s able to hit threes and make an impact on the defensive end, he can earn minutes. With Medor, Riley, and Johnson III graduating next year, Pettis and Pachucki will be in a way auditioning for larger roles the following season.

Jaden Smith

High School: Kenwood Academy

Senior Season Stats: 8.4 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 5.0 BPG

AAU Program: Mac Irvin Fire EYBL

Jaden Smith was a priority recruit for Fordham during the last recruiting cycle, and Fordham had no shortage of competition for Smith, who accumulated several Power 5 offers before trimming his list to Arizona State, DePaul, Dayton, Loyola-Chicago, and Fordham. Smith committed to Arizona State— but would de-commit in late April after being recruited over. Smith would choose Fordham over Louisville, Xavier, Butler, Michigan, and Virginia Tech ten days later. Credit goes to the staff for building a strong relationship initially and jumping back into his recruitment immediately, particularly Henry Lowe, who was the lead recruiter.

Smith is Fordham’s fourth 4-star recruit per ESPN, and the first since Nick Honor in 2018. ESPN has Smith as the #6 player in Illinois and the #23 center in the class of 2024. 247Sports has him as the #6 player in Illinois and the #39 center in the class.

Smith played with Mac Irvin Fire at the 2023 Nike EYBL Peach Jam, where he led the entire event in blocks per game with 3.8. In his senior season at Kenwood, he averaged 5.0 blocks per game in the Chicago Public League. Smith is a tremendous shot blocker thanks to his 7’3” wingspan—and he will have the opportunity to learn under another formidable rim protector in Abdou Tsimbila. Smith’s game differs dramatically, however, because of his ability to step out and hit shots from the perimeter. Smith is a rare type of prospect who has the potential to develop into -the guy- at Fordham. A lot of Kenwood’s game highlights are available on YouTube.

How can Smith make an impact as a freshman? Smith will make an impact immediately because of his rebounding and shot-blocking abilities. It’s hard to expect freshmen bigs to be ready on the offensive end immediately, but Smith will get opportunities thanks to his physical size and skillset. With the opportunity to learn under experienced bigs with differing skillsets in Tsimbila and Matt Zona, I am high on Smith’s potential to be a star at Fordham.

If all goes well, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Smith earn a prominent role by the end of non-conference play. Start Smith and let him build some confidence and go through some growing pains before relying on the veteran Tsimbila for the remainder of the half. With their similar skillsets, it can allow Urgo to have rim protection on the floor at all times. At the minimum, Smith should be a plus shot-blocker and rebounder off the bench this season, but the ceiling for what’s to come is high.

In the future, I’ll probably post these individually as players commit.

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