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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — John Mahoney, by his own admission, didn't know much about Aleem Ford.
In fact …
He may not have known that Ford was born and raised in New Jersey and moved to Lawrenceville, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb, when he was in the fifth grade.
He may not have known that Ford was a pitcher in baseball and a quarterback in football at the youth and middle school levels before giving up both sports to focus on basketball at Archer High.
He may not have known that Ford had a continuous growth spurt from 5-foot-10 as a freshman to 6-2 as sophomore to 6-5 as a junior to 6-7 as senior.
He may not have known that Ford wasn't a regular on the AAU circuit and didn't attract much recruiting traffic beyond interest from Division II programs like Newberry College in South Carolina.
Mahoney, the post-graduate coach at IMG Academy, may have not known much at all about Ford other than he was flying with his parents to Bradenton, Florida for an interview/audition.
"I heard we had a 6-8 prospect coming in," Mahoney recalled. "And, instantly, you think he's a post player. So, I was prepared to do a post workout and we started to do it.
"And then I said, 'Wait a minute here. Let's go on the wing.'"
Mahoney had been an assistant on John Beilein's coaching staffs at West Virginia and Michigan and Ford just had the look (and game) of a wing player in that system.
"I was shocked to say the least at his talent and skill level," Mahoney said. "He was a little skinny and needed to put on weight and needed more experience playing against high-level talent.
"But he was such a great kid and a fast learner."
IMG was Ford's ticket to the Big Ten and Wisconsin, a journey that began innocently when his mom, Zoraya, who worked for the airlines, started up a conversation with an academy rep at the airport.
"She's always talking about Aleem and she got us the interview — it really opened the door for him," said Steven Ford, who would have been content if his son went to Newberry or the University of South Carolina Upstate.
"I've always told Aleem, 'Your degree is more important than sports.' At that time, I was telling him, 'Get your degree.' I was fine with it (Newberry College). But he wasn't."
Aleem Ford wanted more — more out of himself for starters.
"In high school, you're a lot more skilled and taller than everybody else," he said. "And my coaches were always on me making sure I was playing hard all the time and competing in practice."
Ford was younger than most of his classmates because he had been pushed up a grade. His statistics were solid, not spectacular, on a balanced team with a couple of college-bound players.
"You've got to remember Aleem was barely 17-years-old when he graduated," said former Archer basketball coach Tim Watkins, who's still the athletic director at the school. "So, he was young.
"He had a decent junior year, but had a ton of improvement between his junior and senior years — as you would expect out of a taller, longer kid. And then he had a fantastic senior year."
But it did little for his status or profile with the recruiters.
"I wasn't really on the radar during the summer. I didn't play that much AAU," Ford rationalized. "And our high school schedule wasn't a national schedule with a lot of big tournaments."
Watkins kept pushing him to schools citing his youth when asked about his college readiness.
"I talked to a lot of mid-major coaches," Watkins said, "and told them, 'You're looking at this kid wrong. You need to look at him like he's a 2016 kid not a '15 kid because that's his age (group).
"I said, 'You need to take a chance on him.'"
Most of them still passed on Ford.
IMG turned out to be the ideal vehicle for Ford at a timely stage of his physical development.
"We get a lot of kids that need that gap year (between high school and college)," said Mahoney. "IMG is hard, it's a grind. If a kid buys into it, and utilizes everything, he's really going to benefit."
Ford fit that description. He wanted to get better while maturing and growing into his body.
"I was lifting or in the gym for the eight or nine months I was there," he said. "And it was a great experience having a national schedule and being able to see that I can compete with those other guys."
Ford's roommate was Jonathan Isaac, who went from IMG to Florida State (for one season) to the NBA. The 6-10 Isaac was a first-round pick (sixth overall) of the Orlando Magic in the 2017 draft.
"I was able to practice with Isaac every day and learn from him," Ford said. "Seeing how he approached the game was a great experience. Now, he's one of my best friends."
So is UW sophomore D'Mitrik Trice, also an IMG alum. Ford and Trice clicked from the start.
"Aleem and Meech (Trice) were glued at the hip," Steven Ford observed.
Among other things, they found that they had the same taste in music (anything but country) and video games ("Call of Duty" though now they've gotten hooked on "Fortnite").
"You know how when you meet somebody for the first time you don't really talk that much," Ford said. "It was almost like you knew him (Trice) already the way he came up and was very talkative.
"You just don't find that common ground so early in a relationship like we did."
Trice, in turn, felt an immediate comfort level with Ford and his parents.
"Similar people to me and my family," Trice said. "He has become my best friend."
Whereas the college recruiters were aware of Trice, they were still in the dark on Ford. That included Wisconsin coach Greg Gard who was on the IMG campus to evaluate a point guard, Trice.
"We're watching D'Mitrik," said Gard, who was accompanied by former assistant Lamont Paris, "but we kept looking at the court behind us and this 6-8 guy (Ford) kept making play after play.
"Most of the coaches who were watching D'Mitrik, all of a sudden, found themselves wandering to that other court to try and figure out who he (Ford) was.
"It was somewhat happenchance we found him. We did more background work and I sent (assistant coach) Howard Moore down there about 10 days later to make sure our eyes weren't teasing us."
What did Moore see in Ford?
"I saw what those guys saw," he confirmed. "I saw this skilled, long athlete with a lot of potential. He was like a baby deer — not really sure of himself at the moment.
"But he had a ton of potential as far as being able to shoot — he had a good shooting touch. Had some ball skills. No facial hair. But had this body that you saw could blossom and grow into a specimen."
During IMG's April workouts, Ford got the attention of Wisconsin, Michigan, Butler and Richmond — prompting Mahoney to remark, "He went from nothing to end up with that (list)."
"That program (IMG) was great for him because it got him a lot more focused," added Steven Ford, who was proud of his son's diligence. "I saw a big change in him. He took everything more seriously."
Ford and Trice took their recruiting trip to Madison together.
"Once I got up here, seeing the campus, I just fell in love with it and committed," Ford said. "Having a friend with me is something I couldn't pass on; a friend along with me on my journey."
Of course, he was talking about Trice, who also committed to the Badgers. Ford and Trice roomed together as freshmen in the dorms and now are sharing an apartment.
"We've known each other for a couple of years," Trice noted, "and we feel comfortable living with each other. We've always had each other's back. We mesh perfectly. Like peanut butter and jelly."
While Trice played in 37 games last season, Ford redshirted — a no-brainer.
"It kind of happened fast," Ford said of his adventuresome and ambitious timeline. "From thinking about going to Newberry then going to IMG and ending up at Wisconsin.
"I had never really experienced a college game or atmosphere. Being able to see how everything worked, how the older guys handled everything and to watch and learn was great."
As a redshirt, Ford's work stood out on the scout team. While starting 13 of 18 games this season, he has taken on different responsibilities and a more heavily scrutinized role.
"He's going through the normal freshman learning curve where he's understanding it's a lot different than being on the scout team," Gard said. "It's not as free-flowing or as easy.
"There's a lot more accountability, specifically on the defensive end. So, he's learning. What he needs is more experience and strength. But his potential is immense in terms of what he could be."
Ford is a natural "3" (wing or small forward), but he has been used frequently as a "4" (power forward) where his lack of physicality has been exploited at times.
During a recent stretch (Dec. 13 - Jan. 2), he scored nine or more points in five straight games, including a season-high 14 against Western Kentucky. He was 14-of-21 on 3's during that span.
"Shooting has always been a strength," said Ford, who turned 20 in late December. "But I have to give credit to Ethan (Happ) for the open looks.
"They have to double-down on him because he's such a great player and he has been able to find me in some great spots. For the most part, they've been easy shots and I've knocked them down."
That's not how it played out Tuesday at Nebraska where Ford was just 1-of-7 from the field. It's part of the process for a first-year player. Opponents are going to try and take away what he does best.
"I have to make sure," Ford said, "I keep improving game by game, practice by practice. I feel like I have been improving as the season has gone on. But I still have a lot of room to improve."
Mahoney expects no less.
"There's no ceiling for him because he's so big and skilled," Mahoney ventured. "With added weight and more experience, you're going to see a different player the next couple of years.
"He's going to continue to grow and gain confidence. That's what happened here (IMG). Once he gained that confidence that he could play, he took another big step.
"Next year, and the year after next, he's going to be pretty damn good."
That much Mahoney knows for sure about Ford.
