Aiden Ur thrives on unique path as Portuguese basketball player with St. Thomas Aquinas

While many kids get into basketball at a young age simply because they’re tall, or because their parents encouraged them, Aiden Ur found a love for the game through good old-fashioned trial and error.

The Old Bridge native tested out various sports at a young age such as football, soccer and wrestling. But basketball is where he felt the most fun and passion.

“I just played in a rec league with all my friends, and then I liked it a lot so I quit all the other sports and started playing,” Ur said. “For me and my family, basketball has been something we had to learn about by ourselves and just try to get better.”

Ur, who is Portuguese, is creating a unique legacy given that basketball is not played as much intentionally in Portugal. Only two players from that country are currently in the NBA, and its national team has never qualified for the Olympics.

As a young kid growing up, Ur idolized players such as Kyrie Irving and D’Angelo Russell. He currently enjoys watching the way Cam Thomas can score in different ways for the Brooklyn Nets, and Ur is flashing his own dynamic scoring with St. Thomas Aquinas’ boys basketball team.

Ur, a 6-foot-4 combo guard, has been one of the top players in the Greater Middlesex Conference as a senior with 16.1 points per game as of early February. He believes that scoring in bunches is his best skill, especially with his lethal first step and ability to pump-fake defenders.

“Once I see one shot go down, I have the confidence level to score a lot in a little amount of time,” said Ur, who eclipsed 1,000 points for his high school career on Feb. 6 in a home win against Point Pleasant Borough. “I can get to the midrange and I can get to the basket … or even shoot 3s if I’m left open.”

Ur started playing organized basketball in fourth grade and suited up in travel ball for Old Bridge until eighth grade. He has played for some AAU teams in high school, most recently the Jersey Shore Predators.

“In general, I’m always shooting, dribbling, passing – always working on my skills – but I think this year I’ve been rebounding very well,” said Ur, who is versatile and also plays on the wing. “So that’s something I worked on, and then we’re just playing defense better and playing more as a team.”

St. Thomas Aquinas started the 2024-25 season off strong as it won nine of its first 12 games in preparation for GMC Tournament games in mid-February and state tournament games in late-February and potentially early-March.

“We just keep getting better in practice and we look better, play better together now than we did in the beginning of the season,” Ur said.

Ur also helped the Trojans win 17 games and reach the GMC title game in his junior year after he spent his first two years of high school at St. John Vianney.

“It’s been great. It’s fun,” Ur said of his experience at St. Thomas Aquinas. “I just wanted to be at a better basketball school and compete for a championship.”

That level of success requires teamwork and leadership, so Ur has strived to be vocal during practices and games, both in huddles and on the court. He likes to lead by example as well.

“Just trying to show the freshmen and the younger guys that have never played in big varsity games to just stay calm and do what we work on,” Ur said. “Most of the time I try to be first or one of the first people in drills just to show them the effort to do it with and the energy and how stuff should be done.”

Faith also plays a key role in how the St. Thomas Aquinas players carry themselves.

“I went to Catholic school my whole life, so it’s just something that’s always with me,” Ur said. “Our team prays before every game, so it’s just something important to me and the team.”

The next step on his journey will likely involve college basketball. Ur plans to commit to a school once his senior season ends, and he intends to bulk up from his current 165 pounds and get more athletic over the summer.

He is considering studying something along the lines of business in college, but he’ll play basketball for as long as he can to make his family – and everyone with Portuguese blood – proud.

“It’s something new for me and my family, so it’s good to do something different and try to be great at it,” Ur said.