Hamad Mousa, a sophomore guard for the Cal Poly men’s basketball team, was named on Mar. 13 as one of 30 finalists for the CollegeInsider.com Riley Wallace Award, which recognizes the most impactful transfer in Division I basketball this year.
Mousa’s selection comes after a standout offensive season. As an offseason transfer from Dayton, he led the Big West Conference and ranked 25th nationally with an average of 20.4 points per game. He finished the season with 652 points, setting a new Cal Poly Division I-era record and coming just six points short of Stuart Thomas’s all-time program single-season record set in the 1990-91 campaign.
In addition to being named a finalist for the Riley Wallace Award, Mousa previously earned spots on the All-Big West first team and NABC All-Pacific District second team. He scored in double digits in 31 out of 32 games this year and had at least 20 points in 14 games. Mousa also became only the second Mustang to score more than 600 points in a single season. He set a new school record with 180 free throws made, ranked second with 205 free throw attempts, fourth with both 84 three-pointers made and 226 attempts, seventh with an 87.8 percent free throw percentage, and eighth with 194 field goals made.
Cal Poly’s season ended following a March 11 loss to UC San Diego in the opening round of the Big West Championship.
The Riley Wallace Award is named after longtime Hawai’i head coach Riley Wallace, who retired as that program’s winningest coach after leading his teams to three NCAA Tournament appearances and six National Invitation Tournament showings between 1987 and 2007.
A committee of ten members—including current and former head coaches as well as two CollegeInsider.com senior staff—will select this year’s award recipient. The winner will be announced during the Final Four events scheduled for April 4 and April 6 in Indianapolis.
