First import signing for Kousidis
Malta Division One side Gzira Athleta confirmed their first import signing of the summer when they announced US guard Malik Riddle to their squad on Monday.
Riddle will be undertaking his rookie season as a professional player and comes on the back of his college ball career in the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division 2 with Henderson State University.
Speaking to the club’s socials after signing, the 23-year-old said he couldn’t wait to start.
“I was second team and honourable mention two years at Henderson State. I’m very excited to see what the (Maltese) league is like,” he said.
“My main focus is having fun playing the game I love and winning games. I’m going to go out and give my best effort every time I step on the court. Can’t wait to come out and play.”
With the Reddies, the 6’4 player started 29 out of 30 games last season and became the 25th all-time rebounder in the team’s history with 182 boards throughout the season, an average of 5.5 per game, and 431 throughout his time there.
Last season, Riddle averaged 29.4 minutes on court with Henderson State, going 78% from the line, and scoring an average 11.7 points a game.
He now joins a team in transition this summer as Athleta, who struggled to get past their competitors within the league, faced a number of changes throughout the summer as they regrouped after missing the playoffs.
Since then, the club has named Christos Kousidis as head coach but lost household name Nathan Xuereb who joined Luxol in August.
In spite of rumours regarding further players leaving the club, Athleta have managed to retain the majority of their Maltese players as they have re-signed important players like Francesco Mifsud Bonnici, Luca Stefanovic, Matthew Gouder, and Isaac Xuereb to this coming season’s squad.
Apart from that, the club has also managed to rope in former Hibernians youth player Luca Borg on a deadline day signing.
Borg, an Amateur League Championship winner in the 2021-22 season with the Paolites, now makes a move to Athleta as another local option for Kousidis and his squad.
