The tallest player in Northwestern men's basketball history just walked into Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Chier Ajou -- a 7-2, 235-pound center, out of St. Thomas More (Conn.) and Culver (Ind.) Academies by way of Aweil, South Sudan-- was added to coach Bill Carmody's 2012-13 recruiting class Wednesday. Ajou is a cousin of Chicago Bull Luol Deng and chose the Wildcats over Butler.

Ajou joins a freshman class that includes Kale Abrahamson, Sanjay Lumpkin and Alex Olah. Other NU newcomers for next season include Louisville transfer Jared Swopshire and TCU transfer Nikola Cerina, who had to sit out the 2011-12 season.