City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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Hofstra coach Speedy Claxton and his staff did their research on Aaron Estrada.

After his first foray into the transfer portal didn’t quite go to plan, the South Jersey guard made sure he did his homework on Hofstra as well.

It didn’t take either party long to figure out they were a perfect match.

From the first phone call with the coaching staff and the PowerPoint presentation they presented to him about how he fit, Estrada knew Hofstra was the right place for him.

He started his career at Saint Peter’s, went to Oregon, and now at Hofstra it looks like his third try at finding a college home could not have gone better.

“I watched a lot of their games and I’d seen that it was a guard-oriented program,” Estrada said. “Coach Speedy said the ball was going to be in my hands and that’s what I was looking for, ultimately, in a college program. I knew what I was looking for when I entered the portal.

"I wanted to go somewhere I could play and just be myself.”

Estrada was somewhat under-the-radar during his high school career in South Jersey. He helped Woodbury (N.J.) to a state title as a junior before transferring to St. Benedict’s for his senior season in order to secure more college interest, totaling more than 2,000 points along the way.

He recalls Siena, Murray State and St. Bonaventure as some of the schools who recruited him, eventually deciding to stay in New Jersey at Saint Peter’s over East Carolina, Robert Morris and Wagner.

Estrada won the 2019-20 MAAC Rookie of the Year in his only season with the Peacocks after averaging 8.0 ppg and 1.9 apg, a few big games -- like 18 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals against St. John's in 23 minutes off the bench -- making it clear the 6-foot-3 guard had game.

With a significant boost in his profile, Estrada had plenty of potential high-level landing spots to choose from when he entered the transfer portal for the first time. He landed at Oregon in 2020-21 with others like Syracuse and Creighton also in the mix for his services.

He played just nine games for a Ducks team that advanced to the Sweet 16 before looking for a new home once again after the season. However, it wasn’t a wasted year.

“I learned really that I could compete with anybody in the country,” Estrada said of his time at Oregon. “That year we was ranked for a good amount of the year. We went to the Sweet 16 that year. Unfortunately I didn’t play, but all of that, it was just a learning experience for me just seeing NBA guys like Chris Duarte, a lottery pick, seeing the things he does day-in-and-day-out to perfect his game. 

“Seeing where he ended up now, I just really learned how to work hard. Being at Oregon and seeing how hard Chris Duarte worked, that really took my work ethic to the next level.”

When Estrada put his name back into the portal last offseason, he received a text from one of the coaches who recruited him during his high school days: Fordham assistant Mike DePaoli.

Only now DePaoli was at Hofstra as an assistant for Claxton — a Hofstra grad who started his NBA career with the 76ers and was then entering his first year guiding his alma mater — and looking for the Pride’s starting point guard.

“He said he was at Hofstra and they just got a new coach, coach Speedy,” Estrada said. “I talked to the coaching staff and just from the first conversation really, it felt like the right move. They were all in with me, and they were the most engaged throughout the whole recruiting process. I just knew I had to come here.”

Estrada said after a tough season of watching at Oregon in 2020-21, he dropped 25-30 pounds prior to his first season at Hofstra. After the work he put in last summer, he felt ready for a breakout season in 2021-22.

Both parties were rewarded for taking a chance on each other last season when Estrada averaged 18.5 ppg, 5.0 apg and 5.7 rpg en route to earning CAA Player of the Year honors and helping the Pride to a 21-win season.

He had four 30-point outings, including a career-high 35 against James Madison, 11 more outings of 20-or-more points and only failed to reach double figures in five games.

“We watched him play at Saint Peter’s and we knew he was a great player,” Claxton said. “That’s why we went after him. That’s why we got him. He’s going to continue to lead us and we’re going to continue to ride him.”

Year No. 2 for Claxton and Estrada at Hofstra began on Monday night at Princeton with more of the same — if not better. The redshirt-senior guard (who still has a season of eligibility remaining) poured in 27 points and added five assists and four rebounds in 32 minutes of action to help the Pride to a comeback win.

“His work shows,” Claxton said. “He’s the Player of the Year for a reason. When the lights are brightest, he shines so we’re going to need him to do that pretty much every game.”

His jumper off one foot in the lane sealed the game with 20 seconds left. They’re the type of plays Estrada prepares for everyday.

“I feel like all this stuff is really just like my workouts,” Estrada said. “I put in a lot of work. I shoot these shots 100s and 100s of times a day. All this stuff is just like another workout for me. I’m really comfortable shooting those shots.”

Estrada put his name into the NBA Draft in April before withdrawing in May and returning to Hofstra.

The reigning CAA Player of the Year was unsurprisingly tabbed the conference’s preseason player of the year as well. Coming off a third-place regular season finish a year ago, Hofstra was tabbed to finish second in the league this season behind favorite Towson.

He’s ready to take on the increased expectations.

“I’ve been taking it in real well,” Estrada said. “It’s really easy when you know you got a coaching staff behind you and they believe in you. It adds more to my confidence. And also being comfortable as well. When you stay somewhere, you get comfortable with everything and I feel like I’m really comfortable and that helps me a lot.”