MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Cole Aldrich came on the basketball scene at Bloomington Jefferson High School.

He returns to get paid more than $7 seven million a year to play for the Timberwolves. As WCCO’s Mike Max reports, he returns a man savvy to the NBA.

Another prodigal son comes home, Cole Aldrich. With his father in attendance, he explained his love and his sense of history as a fan for his home town team.

“It’s home for us. I grew up watching the Timberwolves. Watching KG in the conference finals,” Aldrich said.

He joins fellow Kansas Jayhawks Brandon Rush and Andrew Wiggins.

“We need to do a throwback Timberwolves with maybe like a Jayhawk patch on the jersey or something,” Aldrich said.

He was a force at Kansas and turned himself into a lottery pick. He looks like one of those Minnesota big men we’ve seen before. In fact, he looks a lot like another NBA veteran from Minnesota named Joel Przybilla.

“I was at the State Fair last year and somebody was like ‘Hey, are you Joel Przybilla?’ I said well it depends. If you want me to be I can,” Aldrich said.

His role will be as a back-up center in Tom Thibodeau’s system.

“I’ve got a few scars and a missing tooth so it kind of fits the groove,” Aldrich said.

But for now he’s just happy to be home, well aware that six years into his career he’s already beat the odds.

“I’ve finished six years in and sometimes I wonder how the hell I even made it this long because the average career is thee and-a-half. It’s just a blessing,” Aldrich said.