Gonzaga transfer joins Sycamores

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Head men’s basketball coach Greg Lansing has announced  that Mangisto Arop (pronounced Man-GEESE-toe Rop) will be joining the Sycamores after being granted a release from his scholarship at Gonzaga University.

Arop, who will sit out the 2011-12 season due to NCAA transfer regulations, will have two years of eligibility remaining when he hits the court for Indiana State at the beginning of the 2012-13 campaign.

“We couldn’t be more excited about Manny joining our basketball family and his future here at Indiana State,” said head coach Lansing. “To get a high-profile transfer at this time of year speaks volumes of what our team accomplished this season and the reputation that our program has established.

“Manny started and played in a high-profile program and played very well in high-profile games. Coach Few and his staff are friends of mine. They obviously do an outstanding job and have nothing but great things to say about Manny on and off the floor.”

The 6-foot-6-inch, 208-pound native of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, saw the court in 28 games for the Bulldogs this past season, getting the starting nod on eight occasions. For the season, Arop logged 15.8 minutes per game, tossing in an average of 4.6 points and 2.9 rebounds while knocking down 37.2% (16-for-43) of his three-point attempts. His season-high in scoring came at Notre Dame on Dec. 11, when he dropped in 16 points from the field on 5-for-6 shooting, including 4-for-5 from beyond the three-point arc.

As a freshman in 2009-10, Arop played in Gonzaga’s first 31 games of the season before suffering a season-ending foot injury during the West Coast Conference Tournament, averaging 3.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game.

Before joining the Zags, played for Canada’s National Elite Development Academy (NEDA), setting the NEDA single-game scoring record with 42 points for Team Canada in the FIBA Americas Championship in Formosa, Argentina. The Canadian team finished fifth in the tournament, as Arop averaged 17.0 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.