Syracuse Basketball: Let’s get to know junior reserve center Mounir Hima

Mounir Hima is entering his junior year with Syracuse basketball in the upcoming 2023-24 season, and the 6-foot-11, 230-pound center provides the Orange with some key depth at this position.

A term ago, when the ‘Cuse went 17-15 overall and missed the NCAA Tournament for the second stanza in a row, Hima only averaged about seven minutes per game, although he was backing up an All-ACC performer in then-senior center Jesse Edwards, who has since transferred to West Virginia as a graduate student.

As a freshman, Hima suited up for Atlantic 10 Conference member Duquesne before transferring to Syracuse basketball.

In 2023-24, which officially gets underway for the Orange on Monday, Nov. 6, as the ‘Cuse hosts New Hampshire, Mounir Hima isn’t likely to see a ton of court time, due to multiple centers being on the team’s roster this year.

Then again, the Orange’s 2023-24 roster contains a ton of sophomores, and as a junior, Hima is one of only a few upperclassmen playing for the ‘Cuse this coming fall and winter. So he does bring some experience to the SU line-up.

Junior Mounir Hima provides solid depth for Syracuse basketball at center.

In 2022-23, under then-head coach Jim Boeheim, Hima appeared in 27 games. He averaged 7.4 minutes, 1.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per contest, while connecting on 46.2 percent from the field and 60.0 percent from the free-throw line.

Those aren’t huge numbers, but Mounir Hima getting 1.0 blocks per game while only averaging 7.4 minutes per encounter is strong. I don’t expect him to be a force on the offensive end in 2023-24, particularly if he receives limited minutes, but he can be an imposing force on the defensive side, whether the Orange is utilizing a man-to-man or a zone defense.

Hima, who is from Tillaberi, Niger, did have to contend with some knee issues last season. It appears that he’s in good health ahead of 2023-24, per recent remarks by Syracuse basketball first-year head coach Adrian Autry as well as various media reports.

In the upcoming campaign, the ‘Cuse centers include Hima, junior Naheem McLeod, a transfer from Florida State, sophomore Peter Carey and freshman William Patterson. By extension, Orange coaches have said that sophomore power forward Maliq Brown is expected to suit up at center depending on factors such as player performance, opponent match-ups, foul trouble and injuries, among other things.

As a member of the 2020 recruiting cycle, Mounir Hima wasn’t nationally ranked, as far as I can tell. Per recruiting services, while in high school, he earned scholarship offers from college squads such as Duquesne, Robert Morris, St. Bonaventure, UMass, Rhode Island and VCU.

Per cuse.com, in the 2019-20 season, his senior year, Hima was part of an outstanding team at the St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, N.J. In that term, St. Benedict’s sported a 30-4 overall mark and was in national top-25 rankings.

While at Duquesne, he redshirted in 2020-21. As a redshirt freshman in 2021-22 at Duquesne, Hima played in 21 games, averaging 9.6 minutes, 1.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per contest. He hit on 42.5 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the charity stripe.

Autry, not too long ago, said to college basketball insider Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports that all of his returning players from 2022-23 have improved, and Hima is part of that group.

To reiterate, it’s unlikely that Mounir Hima is going to play a lot in 2023-24, given the team’s depth at center, but you never know how the upcoming season is going to shake out. He’s been with the Syracuse basketball program for more than a year now, and he’s a solid big man, especially on defense.