With Middle Tennessee’s best big man from last season, Jared Coleman-Jones, transferring to possibly Georgia Tech or San Diego State, Blue Raiders coach Nick McDevitt needed to find a replacement.

That appears to be Essam Mostafa, 6-9, 250, who plays strictly inside and is a good rebounder. Mostafa played his first three seasons at Coastal Carolina before transferring to TCU.

That didn’t work out as he played only 9.6 minutes per game and barely contributed. The Blue Raiders need him to contribute like he did in his three seasons at Coastal where he averaged in double figures every season and was the team’s leading rebounder.

In his final season at Coastal, he averaged 12.4 ppg and 10.0 rpg while taking all but one of his shots inside the arc.

Mostafa is from Egypt but played his high school at Long Island Lutheran in New York.