Report: Rhode Island transfer center Jeremy Foumena set to commit to Mississippi State

Former Rhode Island center Jeremy Foumena has committed to Mississippi State, his agent tells ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

He chose the Bulldogs over the likes of UCF and Georgetown, among others.

As a freshman at Rhode Island last season, the 7-foot big man averaged 5.3 points and 3.5 rebounds for the Rams. He scored in double figures on five occasions during the 2023-24 season. He logged the one and only double-double of his young career on Dec. 21 in an 81-71 loss to New Hampshire where Foumena scored 12 points and logged 10 boards.

“I am best on the block, in the post around the basket,” Foumena told On3’s Jamie Shaw during his portal recruitment. “I am working on my mid-range, but I am getting comfortable there, and I am a capable shooter from three. I am playing with a lot of energy this year. People have told me I play like Jalen Smith and Clint Capela, their energy and the way they play around the basket.”

Before enrolling at Rhode Island, Foumena was unranked in the 2022 recruiting class, per the On3 Industry Rankings, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He played his prep ball in Canada, which played in to his final ranking, or lack thereof.

Foumena’s commitment comes on the same day that Mississippi State landed the services of former Florida guard Riley Kugel out of the transfer portal as well.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

Mississippi State hiring Maya Bulger for assistant AD job, NIL role

Mississippi State is looking to amp up its NIL efforts. Their latest personnel decision is another step forward in that mission.

According to Pete Thamel, Mississippi State is hiring Maya Bulger to be an Assistant Athletic Director at the school. In particular, her role will be focused on NIL Administration and Partnerships. The role itself has recently been created by the school.

Recently, Maya Bulger worked at Washington in a similar role. There, she was the Director of Football NIL for the Huskies. She was with Washington for 11 months. Prior to that, she worked at Illinois State. Again, that was a NIL-related role, with her title being the Director of Name, Image and Likeness & Community Engagement while there.

Before working at Illinois State, Bulger was an NIL Manager for Hawker Family Sports & Entertainment, a global sports agency.

On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this report.