Standout Aiden Derkack to leave Colonia for Spire Academy (OH) for senior season

One of Colonia’s all-time great basketball stars is headed to Ohio.

Aiden Derkack, the Patriots’ boys program’s all-time leading scorer, will leave Colonia for his senior season, he announced on Instagram Sunday.

He’ll be headed to Spire Academy in Ohio to play for legendary high school basketball coach Kevin Boyle, who once rose to prominence as head coach at St. Patrick’s Elizabeth before taking over at Montverde (Fla.) for a decade. He moved to take over Spire in March.

“For developing me beyond basketball, I needed to take this step,” He told CJSR in a phone interview on Sunday. “For basketball, obviously the facilities are great there. But I think the most important thing that I saw there was the people, the coaching staff, [even] the strength guys, everyone there is just winning. People who just want to win and just want to be better, which definitely caught my eye the most.”

The accolades speak for themselves with Derkack and the Patriots program as a whole. In three years, Colonia won three straight sectional championships, two GMC Tournament championships in 2024 and 2025, and went a combined 71-23, including an epic last-second victory over national power La Lumiere in February’s Metro Classic.

As a junior, he was also named the Central Jersey Sports Radio GMC Boys Player of the Year, after a season where he averaged 27.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game. Colonia started its season with a big-time win over St. Peter’s Prep in the NJ Basketball Coaches Tip-Off Showcase, and from there rolled into the postseason at 19-4.

In the GMC Tournament, the Patriots won their first three games by an average of 25 points, and took down Piscataway in an intense 70-63 victory to win the GMC for the second year in a row.

The North 2, Group 3 tournament went by in a similar fashion, with Colonia defeating Mendham 62-43 on its home floor, before falling to Ramapo in the Group 3 semifinal, though the Patriots completed a 29-6 postseason record in Derkack’s three years.

Under head coach Jose Rodriguez, Derkack and the Patriots have consistently been one of the state’s finest public school programs – and top teams in general.

Spurred by a standout season in the AAU ranks for the EYBL’s Team Final, Derkack makes the next step in his basketball career, and his journey to the highest level. He leaves Colonia as one of the program’s all-time greats as part of one of the school’s best basketball families.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel speak with Aiden Derkack on his time at Colonia and his basketball future: