LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The Aggies continue to build their roster as center Cyr Malonga officially signed with NM State this morning, joining the Crimson & White for the 2025-26 season.
Cyr Malonga | Jr. | C | 6-11 | Pointe-Noire, Congo | Evangel Christian HS | East Carolina
This past season, Malonga appeared in 18 games for East Carolina, including making four starts. As a sophomore, he averaged 1.3 points and 1.6 rebounds per contest. He posted a season-high five points in a road game at South Florida on Dec. 31 and matched his career best with two blocks on three different occasions.
During his freshman campaign, Malonga played in 28 games with 14 starts. He recorded his top performance of the season on 3/6/24 at SMU, where he notched 10 points and pulled down nine rebounds in 34 minutes of action. That season, he also logged multiple blocks in a matchup versus Wichita State on 2/15/24 and appeared on the scoresheet with a block in eight different games. For his efforts in the classroom, he was named to the AAC All-Academic Team and earned a spot on the Academic Honor Roll for the spring semester.
In his high school days, he played for Evangel Christian in Louisville, Kentucky. There he would help lead the program to its first 23rd District Tournament title, scoring a game-high 24 points in the championship game. As a junior, he averaged 10.8 points and a team-best 7.9 rebounds per game while shooting a team-leading 68 percent from the floor. A year earlier, he recorded a double-double average with 11.5 points and 11.8 rebounds. His talent extended onto the Nike EYBL circuit, where he suited up for both Boo Williams and Team Thad, averaging 10 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks per game during the summer of 2021. Coming out of high school, he ranked as the No. 31 center nationally and the No. 3 overall prospect in Kentucky, per 247Sports' composite rankings, and held offers from Cincinnati, Georgetown, Georgia, Illinois, and Texas before committing to East Carolina.
QUOTABLE | Head Coach Jason Hooten
"We felt Cyr was just needing an opportunity to show what he's capable of doing. This past season at ECU, he played behind a first team all-conference selection. We love his length, athleticism, motor and ability to run the floor. Cyr has the work ethic and character to become a very productive player in our system, and I can't wait to see him improve daily. He has a lot of the same attributes as a former player of ours, Kaosi Ezeagu. We feel really good about the young talent in our center position!".
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