Oklahoma State lands Memphis transfer Moussa Cisse

Mike Boynton and the Oklahoma State Cowboys landed a second former five-star recruit through the transfer portal this offseason.

Memphis center and American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year Moussa Cisse announced his commitment to Oklahoma State on Thursday on ESPN. Oklahoma State beat out Florida State, Georgia, Cincinnati and Creighton for Cisse’s services.

Cisse is a six-foot-ten and 220-pound center who averaged 6.6 points and 6.3 rebounds in his lone season playing for Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers. Cisse shot 55.2 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from the free-throw line last season. Cisse’s primary role with the Cowboys would be as a rim protector and energetic rebounder to pair with the scoring abilities of Avery Anderson III and Bryce Thompson.

The real prize of Cisse’s size and skill set is his shot-blocking abilities. He blocked 1.6 shots per game as a freshman and his skill set fills the biggest holes on Oklahoma State’s roster. Cisse will likely slot in next to Kalib Boone in the starting lineup to give the Cowboys a more formidable frontcourt. Although Boone has made tremendous strides since arriving in Stillwater, Cisse will give Oklahoma State a more traditional big man and take away some of the rim-protecting responsibility Boone had to shoulder last season.

Six points and six rebounds doesn’t jump off the page, but Cisse ranked just sixth in minutes played per game at Memphis for an average of 18 minutes per game. He also averaged 2.5 fouls per game. Cisse will need to stay out of foul trouble at for the Cowboys, but he has the potential to make a massive impact if he can stay on the floor. Matthew Alexander- Moncrieffe and Kalib Boone averaged 21 and 20 minutes per game respectively as the primary big men for OSU last season. Adding Cisse to the mix as the primary rebounder and rim protector should land him the same amount of minutes, if not more.