INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI Athletics Department and Head Basketball Coach
Jason Gardner announced the addition of Manhattan-transfer
Ahmed Ismail for the upcoming season. The 7-foot-1 Ismail will sit out the 2017-18 season and have one season of eligibility remaining, beginning in 2018-19. Ismail will be the second player sitting out this season due to Division I-transfer rules, joining Vanderbilt-transfer
Camron Justice.
Ismail played in 30 games at Manhattan last season, making 19 starts.
"We're definitely excited to be adding someone of Ahmed's caliber to our program," Gardner said. "He's an impact big man for our program. We had a need for a rim protector and rebounder going forward and we think that Ahmed fills that void. He honestly hasn't been playing basketball all that long, so he's continuing to get better and better. We think that sitting out a season will really benefit him and he'll make a major, major impact on our program after that.
"On top of that, he's going to help our guys this year in giving them a true 7-footer to against in practice everyday. You can't teach his kind of size."
Ismail averaged 3.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in his lone season at Manhattan, leading the Jaspers with 32 blocked shots. He connected on 51 percent of his field goal attempts while averaging just better than 16 minutes a game. He recorded a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) at Canisius on Jan. 28 and had a season-high 11 rebounds and four blocked shots at Detroit Mercy on Nov. 26. He swatted at least three shots in a game five different times and had at least four offensive boards in a game three times.
Prior to Manhattan, Ismail played two seasons at Colby (Kan.) Community College, averaging 8.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game as a sophomore. As a freshman, he averaged 6.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots per game in his initial collegiate campaign.
Ismail is originally from Cairo, Egypt and played basketball for just three years prior to coming to the United States in 2014. He'll be just the second 7-footer in school history, following Bill Van Senus (2003-08).
The Jaguars will begin preparations for the upcoming 2017-18 season as IUPUI will begin play in the Horizon League later this winter.
