“Same place, same jersey, different journey,” wrote Aiden on Instagram next to photos of him and his brother in Dayton uniforms.
Aiden’s commitment came 16 days after he stood on Tom Blackburn Court at UD Arena with his family as Jordan was honored on Senior Night.
“We’re super excited,” said Gene Derkack, the father of Jordan and Aiden. “We’ve gone through this process for a long time, and obviously I went through it with a few kids and you just realize what’s important, and how much like coaching staff and those guys play a role.”
Aiden, a 6-foot-7 guard, is a four-star recruit who ranks 48th in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports.com, 65th in the ESPN rankings and 66th in the Rivals.com rankings.
Aiden attended Colonia High School in Colonia, N.J., for his first three years but announced last July he would attend SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio, for his senior year.
Aiden set Colonia’s scoring record with 1,739 points in three seasons. He averaged 24.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.8 steals as a junior.
Aiden received a scholarship offer from Dayton in May 2025. His brother committed to Dayton the previous month after one season at Rutgers.
Aiden visited Dayton in September. He committed to Providence in October, picking the Friars over Dayton and Southern California.
Gene said it was hard for Aiden to choose Providence last fall.
“I think he had an extremely close relationship with Kim English, who’s a great guy,” Gene said, “and I think that was probably what made the difference there.”
English was fired March 13. He was 48-52 in three seasons. Providence hired South Florida’s Bryan Hodgson on Sunday.
In recent weeks, Gene said Aiden “grew up quick in terms of seeing what’s important to him, and he realized why Dayton was so important, so special, and why it’s a fit for him.
“I’ve been to a lot of arenas in my life,” Gene said, “and there’s just something really special about Dayton and Dayton fans. They showed a lot of love to both my boys. This was almost like a no-brainer for us.”
Aiden is the highest-ranked high school senior to commit to Dayton since DaRon Holmes II, who was a top-40 recruit when he announced his decision in September 2020.
“He’s one of the best players in the country,” Gene said. “He is an unbelievable kid. He is one of the best teammates I’ve ever seen in my life. He’s going to bring energy. He’s going to bring excitement. He’s going to bring everything that a Dayton fan is looking for in a player. I think he checks all the boxes.”
Aiden is five years younger than Jordan.
“Jordan used to beat him up pretty bad,” Gene said. “I think I would be an interesting game now. I’ve banned 1-on-1 in my backyard because it just leads to a fight every time.”
Gene said Aiden watched all Jordan’s games this season.
“I’ve said this many times now,” Gene said. “I think coach (Anthony) Grant is one of the best guys I’ve ever met. Ricardo and the rest of the staff are just really good humans. Unfortunately, you don’t see that a lot in this industry right now, and I think they just did a great job recruiting him and showed a lot of love, and he just felt like it was home.”
Aiden joins Julian Washington, a 6-5 guard from Margaretta High School, in Dayton’s 2026 class. Washington committed to Dayton in October.
Dayton will still have a busy spring adding talent from the transfer portal. It loses four players who will exhaust their eligibility this season: Javon Bennett; Keonte Jones; Jacob Conner; and Jordan Derkack.
If no Flyers enter the transfer portal this spring — and if recent seasons are an indication, some will — this would be the current 2026-27 roster:
• Senior: De’Shayne Montgomery.
• Juniors: Amael L’Etang; and Bryce Heard.
• Redshirt junior: Jaiun Simon.
• Redshirt sophomore: Malcolm Thomas.
• Sophomores; Damon Friery; and Sean Pouedet.
• Redshirt freshman: Jaron McKie.
• Freshmen: Aiden Derkack; and Julian Washington.
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