Committed Big Man Abdou Tsimbila Finally Lands with Nittany Lions

Better late than never. And in this case, much better.

Though he signed his National Letter of Intent to join the Penn State men's basketball program in its Class of 2019, forward Abdou Tsimbila was forced to hold off on his enrollment in the program for unspecified reasons last summer.

Monday, the program announced those reasons have been resolved and the 6-foot-8 big man is now able to enroll with the university.

His addition to the program is a big one, in a very literal sense.

Just a few weeks removed from the announcement that junior college transfer Valdir Manuel had been released from his letter of intent in a mutual parting of ways, the Nittany Lions' roster was sorely in need of size ahead of the 2020-21 season. Without Tsimbila, only returning senior forward John Harrar could be described as a power forward on the roster, with fellow 6-foot-8 senior Trent Buttrick considered a stretch four, and no one else bigger than 6-7 the rest of the way.

Last season, Tsimbila enrolled at Harcum College for an academic-only course load, spending the season away from basketball after a solid high school career at St. Maria Goretti High School in which he was twice named first-team All-Washington County.

Tsimbila was a three-star prospect as rated by Rivals and the No. 23-ranked center in the Class of 2019.

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