Duquesne Transfer Mounir Hima Commits to Syracuse Basketball
Duquesne transfer center Mounir Hima has committed to Syracuse, the 6-11 big announced on Twitter Wednesday afternoon.
"After a great visit and great conversation with Coach Boeheim, coach G-Max (sic), coach Reid (sic) and the rest of the staff," Hima wrote on Twitter. "I am excited to announce that I will be committing to Syracuse University. Thank you to my family, coaches, friends and everyone that has been helping along the way."
Hima was a redshirt freshman at Duquesne last season, meaning he has three years of eligibility remaining. In about 10 minutes per game, Hima averaged 1.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks. He is listed at 6-11, 240 pounds per Duquesne Athletics' website. He gained more playing time as the season progressed, starting the last five games of the season.
Prior to Duquesne, he spent his junior and senior years of high school at St. Benedict's in New Jersey. He averaged eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks per game as a senior.
Syracuse is in need of a backup center for its 2022-23 roster with the departure of Frank Anselem, who is transferring to Georgia. The Orange previous targeted Quincy Ballard, who elected to go to Wichita State for a better opportunity at more immediate minutes.
Head coach Jim Boeheim said recently on Cuse Sports Talk that the situation at Syracuse is a great one for a young developing center to backup starter Jesse Edwards for a year, play some right away, and be ready to take over when Edwards leaves. That would figure to be the plan with Hima, who would be expected to compete with incoming freshman Peter Carey for the starting job once Edwards is gone.
According to Slater, schools such as Charlotte, Northern Arizona, Robert Morris, Radford, Louisiana Tech, Robert Morris and Eastern Michigan expressed interest in Hima as a transfer as of the end of April. Per Mike Waters of the Syracuse Post-Standard, Seton Hall also expressed interest. Texas A&M and Pittsburgh were among those that offered out of high school.
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