UMass basketball: Minutemen to add another transfer in Murray State forward Malek Abdelgowad

The UMass men’s basketball team added its third transfer of the week on Friday in former Murray State forward Malek Abdelgowad. He has one remaining season of eligibility.

Abdelgowad stands 6-foot-10, 220 pounds and played 19 games off the bench for Murray State in the 2022-23 season. He averaged 11.2 minutes, 3.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists. He transferred to Murray State last year after two years at junior college program South Plains College, where he recorded averages of 7.2 points and 6.6 rebounds over 59 games (46 starts).

Abdelgowad is originally from Cairo, Egypt and played for the Egypt U-20 national team in 2020. 

The Minutemen signed Daniel Rivera from Bryant on Tuesday and Akil Watson from Arizona State on Wednesday. All three additions should serve to help the Minutemen bolster their frontcourt after the departures of First-Team All-Atlantic 10 forwards Matt Cross (SMU) and Josh Cohen (USC). In addition to Cross and Cohen, six other players entered the transfer portal, including Keon Thompson (Stephen F. Austin) and Robert Davis Jr. (Old Dominion).

At 6-foot-10, Abdelgowad will slot in as UMass’ tallest player. Reserve forward Tyler Mason, who is also listed at 6-foot-10, entered the transfer portal in March after his freshman season at UMass, though he has not announced a new school yet.

UMass has one available scholarship remaining.