FORT MYERS, FL – A standout forward who spent the last two seasons at Austin Peay will join the FGCU men's basketball program for the 2020-21 campaign as graduate transfer Eli Abaev (Deerfield Beach, FL/Zion Luthern HS/Eastern Florida State) signed with the Eagles on Wednesday. He will be immediately eligible for the 2020-21 season.
 
"Eli brings toughness and production at the Division I level to our program and, most importantly, he has won throughout his high school and college career," said head coach Michael Fly. "The addition of Eli will give us four seniors next year who all have experience as starters. It will be fun to watch Eli and Jalen Warren play together again as they did during an extremely successful 30-5 season at Eastern Florida State College that included a third-place finish nationally."
 
Abaev spent the last two seasons with Austin Peay where he redshirted the 2018-19 season due to injury before averaging 7.9 points and 7.7 rebounds in 30 starts for the Governors last season.  The 6-foot-8, 210 pound forward helped Austin Peay to a 21-12 overall record and a 14-4 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Governors finished third in the league standings and reached the semifinals of the conference tournament last year.
 
As a redshirt junior last season, Abaev started all 30 games he played averaging 27.8 minutes. He connected on 50.6 percent of his field goals and posted 34 assists, 26 steals and 21 blocks. His 7.7 rebounds per game ranked fourth overall among OVC players.
 
He reached double-figures in 10 games including a season-high 19 points against Eastern Kentucky and SIUE in back-to-back games. In the final 13 games of the year, his scoring average increased to 10.8 points per game. Additionally, he recorded six double-doubles (sixth most in the OVC) and reached double figures in rebounds 12 times. He had a season-high 14 boards at Murray State to go with 10 points. He also had a near double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds in late January against Belmont.
 
After sitting out the 2018-19 season, Abaev spent the following summer representing Team USA at the 2019 European Maccabi Games winning gold while averaging 17.0 points and 15.3 rebounds in six games. That was highlighted by a 23-point, 28-rebound effort against Russia in the gold medal game.
 
He began his college career at Eastern Florida State College, alongside current Eagle Jalen Warren (Milton, Ontario), where he averaged 9.1 points and 9.8 rebounds as part of the Titans 30-5 season in 2017-18 where the squad finished third at the NJCAA National Championship Tournament. He earned All-Mid Florida Conference honors that season having shot 52.9 percent from the floor with 32 starts in 34 games played. As a freshman at EFSC, he earned a spot on the NJCAA Championship All-Tournament Team and started 27-of-37 games overall.
 
Abaev is the fifth member of the incoming class for the 2020-21 season joining a quartet of November early signees: Forward Zach Anderson (Orlando, FL/Apopka HS), guard Dom London (Christiana, PA/Octorara HS/Harcum College), guard Luis Rolon (Ponce, Puerto Rico/Central Pointe Christian Academy), and guard Victor Rosa (Naranjito, Puerto Rico/Central Pointe Christian Academy).
 
He will also become the fourth senior on FGCU's roster next season alongside Warren, guard Sam Gagliardi (Gig Harbor, WA/Gig Harbor HS/Citrus College), and center Justus Rainwater (Enunclaw, WA/Enumclaw HS/Cochise College).
 
FGCU will enter the 2020-21 campaign with 70-percent of its scoring back in the line-up along with seven players who saw significant action in 25-or-more games during the 2019-20 season. That total alone puts FGCU ahead of this past year where the Eagles had just 22-percent of its scoring coming back and three players who saw key minutes.
 
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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 12-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just eight-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2018 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for twenty-one consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall semester saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
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