He was a two-time captain at Pitt who scored 1,200 points for the team and held the school single-season field goal percentage record from 1986 to 1989.
As a youth, Curtis Aiken was a regular attendee at the Masten Boys & Girls Clubs of America in Buffalo.
[4] He was raised by his grandmother Marion on the East Side and wanted to be a boxer until attending a basketball camp at the Boys & Girls club at age 10.
[a][2] Five years later, Christian Laettner became the second Western New York high school player to achieve 2,000 career points (2,066).
On February 17, 1989 David Edwards eclipsed Aiken's single-season record with a total of 947 (disputed)[b] in a playoff loss (his 23rd game)[8] before Marcus Whitfield reached 958 in his 21st game, a playoff win for Burgard Vocational High School on February 18 hosted at Amherst Central High School.
[9] Bennett won the 1983 Class B NYSPHSAA State Championships at the Glens Falls Civic Center over John S. Burke Catholic High School 88-61.
[c] In the Capital Classic, Aiken played for the McDonald-sponsored U.S. All-Stars team that included James Blackmon Sr., Keith Gatlin, Joe Wolf, Barry Sumpter, Mike Smith, Corey Gaines, Daryl Thomas, Greg Koubek, and Winston Bennett.
[23] He was also selected for the Dapper Dan Club's annual all-star basketball game along with guards Bogues, Washington, Antoine Joubert and Steve Alford for the U.S.
[33] According to The Oklahoman, Aiken had demanded that White be retained as an assistant, but there was no announcement of his retention within 5 days of Brown's hiring.
[34] White was later fired for philosophical differences and did not end up serving as an assistant coach for the 1983–84 Kansas Jayhawks.
[35] Although Roy Chipman was the Pitt head coach, his assistants Seth Greenberg (1980–83) and John Calipari (1985-1988) were said to deserve the credit for recruiting successes of that era, including Aiken.
This percentage was a single-season school record (minimum 5 FGA/Game) that stood for three years until Brian Shorter had 60 percent for the 1988–89 team.
[43] All Big East coaches thought of the experiment as lunacy, although players like Jackson and Billy Donovan were for the idea.
[50] Before his time as a color analyst on the Pitt Panther broadcast network with Hillgrove, Aiken had served as a color commentator for announcer Jeff Hathhorn on Pitt's non-conference games airing on ACC Network Extra, an online platform through ESPN.
[51] In 2002, he was inducted into the Bennett High School Hall of Fame alongside Bob Lanier in the inaugural class.
[54] Aiken was the third selection (behind Bob Lanier and Laettner) to the 2009 50th anniversary All-Western New York boys first team by The Buffalo News for his high school career.