America East Basketball News & Notes: UMass Lowell Adds to Front Court

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We know that the world of college basketball has changed over the past few seasons. The transfer portal has become a popular place for players to head to improve their playing status or maybe look for another conference to try to make an impression. However, it is rare that a player will move down a peg to make that point. Such is the story of Abdoul Karim Coulibaly a 6-9 forward who has left St. Bonaventure of the Atlantic-10 for UMass Lowell of America East.

This will be his third stop since becoming a division one basketball player. He began his journey at Pittsburgh of the Atlantic Coast Conference where would spend two years before moving on to upstate New York. He will join the River Hawks with two years of eligibility left. Coming out of Scotland Campus Sports in PA, he was rated three stars by both Rivals and ESPN. At Pittsburgh in the 2020-21 season, he started 20 of 22 games for the Panthers. He averaged five points and four rebounds a game. He was second on the team with 19 blocks. Coulibaly led all regulars in shooting percentage at 51% in the 48 games he played over two seasons at Pitt. He would improve both his field goal percentage and free throw percentage while with the Panthers. His field goal jump went from 42% to 51%, while his free throws went up over 20%. Those improvements led to more time on the court as his minutes increased from nine to twenty-two a game.

After two years in the ACC, Coulibaly decided to move on to a different campus and chose St. Bonaventure and the Atlantic-10. He spent last year playing for a Bonnies team that would end up playing in the NIT. After finishing their regular season at 23-10, and making it to the semi-finals at Madison Square Garden, they would lose to Xavier 84-77. His best game for the Bonnies was the very first game of the season when he scored 12 points in 17 minutes of game time vs Siena. He had only two games of double-digit scoring. For the season, he would average four points a game with two rebounds a night. Playing time was a bit of an issue while at St. Bonaventure as Abodoul would play ten minutes or more in only seven conference games and one in the NIT.

So what kind of player is UMass Lowell getting? First, they are getting another big body that can help them on the boards which has been a problem for them in recent seasons. They have added front-court depth which can never hurt. With the likes of Max Brooks, Connor Withers, Quincy Muncy, and Allin Blunt the River Hawks look to be in good shape up front. If the River Hawks can get the player that shows signs of improvement while at Pittsburgh, instead of the one that had problems getting on the court with St Bonaventure this becomes a win-win for both sides. He will enroll this fall as a Criminology major with hopes of making a big impact on the court in America East play next season.