Moon Township, Pa. – Former RMU men's basketball forward Yannis Mendy (2018-20) signed a professional contract to continue his career with US Avignon-Le Pontet of the National 1 French League.

Mendy joins former Colonials Jeremy Chappell (2005-09), Karvel Anderson (2012-14) and Lucky Jones (2011-15) to sign professional contracts overseas. Chappell currently plays for Umana Reyer Venezia in Italy, Anderson is in Turkey playing for Demir Buyukcekmece and Jones recently signed with Cherkasy in the Ukrainian Superleague.

During the 2019-20 campaign, Mendy, a native of Metting, France, was one of three Colonials to start all 34 games as RMU posted an overall record of 20-14 (.588), including a mark of 13-5 (.722) in the Northeast Conference (NEC). He provided averages of 8.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 55.3 percent (126-for-228) from the field. Mendy ranked fourth in the NEC in field goal percentage.

"We're thrilled as a program that Yannis is getting an opportunity to continue his career," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach Andrew Toole said. "It's really exciting that he gets an opportunity to play professionally in his home country of France. It's a great team and fit, and we hope it's the beginning of a long and successful pro career for Yannis."

During his two seasons in an RMU uniform, Mendy started 67 of his career 69 games, averaging 7.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest while converting 55.8 percent (206-for-369) of his shots from the field. He reached double figures in scoring 19 times, with the Colonials posting a record of 14-5 (.737) in those contests.

In the 2020 NEC Tournament championship game, a 77-67 victory over Saint Francis U at the UPMC Events Center in front of 4,034 fans that helped the Colonials claim their ninth automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, Mendy contributed 12 points, three rebounds, two assists, a block and two steals. In three games of the 2020 NEC Tournament, Mendy averaged 9.0 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 55 percent (11-for-20) from the field.

RMU has reached the 20-win plateau five times in 10 seasons under Toole, who has posted an overall record of 188-154 (.550) during his tenure. The Colonials have appeared in five NEC Tournament championship games (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2020) under Toole and have qualified for a national postseason tournament six times. RMU has earned automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament twice (2015, 2020) and has made two appearances in both the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) (2013, 2014) and the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) (2012, 2019).

Over the last 13 years, RMU has recorded an overall record of 261-185 (.585), an average of 20.1 wins per season. In June of 2020, the Colonials joined the Horizon League in 10 of 16 intercollegiate athletic programs. RMU returns three starters and five letterwinners for the 2020-21 campaign.

Follow The Colonials: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Snapchat | YouTube