Where are they now: Aaron Agnew
Despite only appearing in nine games, and a total of 15 game minutes, Aaron Agnew drew his way into the hearts of Cyclone fans during the 2004-2005 season. Agnew, an Ohio native, returned to his home state after living in Iowa, Illinois and Pennsylvania during his college days.
“I'm back in Ohio, close to my hometown in Martins Ferry, Ohio,” Agnew said. “Been in the oil and gas industry for over 12 years now. And I have a daughter that lives with me the majority of the time. That’s my heart, keeping me busy. She is 9 going on 18,” Agnew laughed. “Playing soccer for local club team and getting into basketball.”
Agnew attended Bellaire High School, which is on the Ohio River bordering Wheeling, West Virginia.
During the 2003-2004 season, Agnew and his Big Red teammates (including future Ball State Cardinal and San Francisco 49er quarterback Nate Davis) made it to the OHSAA Division III State Tournament held in Columbus, the school’s first appearance in the semi-finals. WTRF-7 made a news package on the semi-final featuring a postgame interview with Agnew.
A pair of highlights from the season include Agnew dropping 32 points in the regular season finale against the St. Clairsville Red Devils and a 38 point, 14 rebound and five block tally in the Regional Final against Chesapeake.
“It was a great season, had a lot of fun memories from that team,” Agnew said. “But crazy thing is it almost didn't happen. I was staying in Baltimore the summer going into my senior year. Traveling to camps and tournaments around the country and my dad was the girls coach, I talked him into taking the job. Was there for a year, and he got let go of for some dumb reasons that summer. I was playing in the BET classic in DC with Rudy Gay at the time I found out and I wanted to leave Bellaire. I went and visited Rudy Gay’s school and was set to make it happen and my mom shut it down lol. Said she wanted to watch my last year. Now as talented as our team was, a lot of teams wouldn't play us from our area. Between my junior and senior year we played like 8 division 1 teams and my team was a division 3 team.”
The Big Red head coach at the time was Gene Ammirante, a legend in and around The All-American Town with a coaching record of 471-205 at the helm of Bellaire.
“We played hard and it helped us make that run my senior year,” Agnew said. “I loved playing for Coach A, I see him often now at the gym. With his grandsons getting shots up while my daughter is doing the same.”
Agnew, listed at 6-10, 385 lbs, per the 2004-05 Iowa State media guide, had several nicknames, including “Baby Shaq”. To some, perhaps, they might have called him “King” as he was named Homecoming king at Bellaire.
“In my area the sports association is called the OVAC and I was named the Shaq of the OVAC,” Agnew said. “Coming into Iowa State, I heard baby Shaq, Big DOG and many others lol. Played against Glen Davis at the ABCD camp coming into my senior year and he was baby Shaq. So really just depended on who was giving the nickname at the time.”
The recruiting trail is something that every prep athlete embarks on. Agnew had four schools in mind, but, Iowa State ended up being the one that stuck out the most to him.
“Recruiting was fun but really seen the business side of things,” Agnew shared. “Where one school is interested but out of scholarships or another is wanting you to wait because they may be looking at another player. Duquesne, Pitt, Iowa State and USC were like my main to pick from. Coach Bobby flew in for a workout at my gym wanted me to sign right then. Duquesne I was a fan of coming from a smaller town, I liked how the campus was smaller and not in the city. I was a fan of Pitt but they wanted me to sign late and I wanted it out of the way, and I wasn't sold on how the campus was so spread out throughout the city. I had visits with Louisville and Xavier as well but they signed players and no scholarships were left.”
Agnew received some interest from the university to his east, in West Virginia, however, he didn’t like their proposal for an offer.
“Had WVU recruiting me, but they signed someone and the coach told me only way I could go was if I flunked out my senior year and went to a prep school, I thought he was crazy,” Agnew said. “But Iowa State felt like home, big school in a smaller town. Everything was easy to find. … Wish I would have gotten to stay at ISU for my four years”
While a student at Iowa State, Agnew stood out, however, he didn’t see it that way and took a humble approach as the big man on campus. He made good memories both on and off the court, too.
“I guess just the experience of being at a school like that, I don’t think I’m any better than the next person,” he said. “You walk around campus and everyone knows who you are. Me and a buddy of mine would hang out and hit a party he was on the track team. We had no clue whose house we just showed up at, but we was good to be there. I made some friends in a frat (Theta Xi) while I was there good dudes had some good times. Basketball I’d say just the gyms and atmosphere of playing Kansas when they are ranked top 1-2 in the country and knocking them off or playing Texas when they are top 10 and knocking them off. Nothing beats that feeling in sports honestly.”
Agnew drew his way into forming connections with his teammates as well, as he designed a tattoo for then fellow freshman Rahshon Clark. A fine arts major at Iowa State, Agnew finds time to draw to this day.
“So art is something I've done since I was little,” he said. “I feel like I'm always on the go with work, and then something with my daughter. Her Wolfpack soccer club team is getting ready for a tournament in Pittsburgh next month. But when I get a chance I'll sit and still draw. Made a TikTok page where I can post and show my stuff. Actually got something now that needs finished and one that needs mailed out to a friend that reached out to me. She is living overseas, but we met while I was at Iowa State and her son loves anime so she hit me up.”
After his stint in Ames, Agnew headed east to play community college ball at Highland CC (Illinois). He appeared in 33 games for the Cougars.
“Juco was a good experience definitely humbling going from ISU to Highland Community College,” Agnew said. “Was tough mentally, but we had a great team there only lost two games I think we finished up 32-2 had like a 25 game winning streak at one point.”
Agnew headed for a new destination, a closer to home destination, yet again after a year at Highland and went to Robert Morris University where he appeared on the hardwood and the soft turf of Joe Walton Stadium with the Colonials football team.
“I was excited to get closer to home going to Bobby Mo, got a bunch of injuries though,” Agnew said. “Summer I got there messed up my hamstring, then when I was getting back into it, popped my shoulders. Was out another week or two then had a really good week or two of practice and broke my foot. And was done, that next year I decided to try out football. Was something new, I enjoyed that experience there.”
After exhausting his collegiate eligibility, Agnew took up boxing and semi-pro football a couple years after.
“This is back in MySpace time, someone hit me up saying you want to get paid to train,” he said. “I’m like ‘yes,’ so thats how I got into boxing. Was still living in Moon Township. I ended up moving closer to Monroeville and was training in a small gym in Bryce Park. Had an ex-military guy training me and a few others. We ended up in a program to build heavyweight boxers. Went out to Venice Beach, California, they had all the trainers there you could think of. Guys from the contender, boxing shoes and some legend trainers.”
“The semi-pro football happened like two years after boxing,” Agnew added. “I was home working at a treatment facility for kids, and a buddy told me about this team. So I said I’ll try out it was a way for me to get film. Drove down Morgantown and the owner of the team was like you’re on the team. Played the season with them, but missed one of the last games and the owner wouldn't send me any film.”
Agnew picked up basketball again, but didn’t stick around long due to the finances of it all.
“I ended up trying out for a basketball team in Lima, Ohio, my buddy Jamar Butler was signed to the team,” he said. “Just wasn't much money in it for me. That’s when I decided to get into the oil industry.”
Another endeavor Agnew got himself into is making his own line of clothing, known as Bigger than the Rest.
“The Brand actually started because I go to the Arnold Classic in Columbus every year,” Agnew said. “For the longest time, there was not brands that made stuff for bigger guys. So I just decided to do my own thing. Most think it’s just because I'm big, but the meaning is to be the bigger person at all times no matter when issues or problems you have in front of you. Back when I was starting it out and had more time I went to a few schools and sat and talked to the kids about bullying and ways to deal with it in a productive way.”
Thank you Aaron for spending time and catching up with me, it was great to catch up with you and hopefully 2023 finds you well. More articles and interviews are in the works.