Abdelmassih Joins ISU Men's Hoops Staff

AMES, Iowa ? Matt Abdelmassih, who for the last two seasons assisted Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg as a staffer for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA, will join the ISU men's basketball staff as assistant director of operations, Hoiberg announced today.

“I have gotten to know Matt very well in the past two years and witnessed first hand what a great worker he is,” Hoiberg said. “He is a very organized person and will make immediate contributions to our program. I am really happy he decided to join us.”

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Abdelmassih (pronounced Abdel-Massey) forged a solid working relationship and friendship with Hoiberg when he joined the T-Wolves organization in 2008. He spent his first season as a basketball operations intern, working directly with the T-Wolves coaching staff.

He was promoted to basketball operations assistant last year (2009-10), moving into front office duties. He assisted the T-Wolves brass in a variety of roles, including salary cap issues and free agent analysis.

“I am thrilled and excited to join Fred here at Iowa State,” Abdelmassih said. “I am honored to be a small piece of the puzzle to bring back ISU to national prominence.”

Abdelmassih was a student manager for the St. John's men's basketball team on Norm Roberts' staff from 2004-07. He aided the director of operations with travel, video and camp responsibilities. At SJU, he spent most of his summers helping out at camps around the country, including camp work at Kansas, North Carolina and UCLA.

A 2007 graduate of St. John's, Abdelmassih was born in Brooklyn on Feb. 19, 1985 and graduated from Cocalico High School in Denver, Pa.