Lean, athletic big man who has quickly made a major impact at Bucknell and helped elevate the program back to a championship level ... was the Patriot League Player of the Year on the championship team in 2010-11 ... offensively, can score from anywhere on the floor ... good finisher inside with both hands and has worked hard on his back-to-the basket post moves ... has an excellent outside shooting touch, with range extending out to the 3-point arc ... very nimble for a 6'11" athlete and can also put the ball on the floor ... excellent passing skills ... on defense, has been the Patriot League's top shot-blocker in each of his two seasons ... after only two seasons already ranks third on the school's career blocks list with 132 ... has rebounded adequately, and is working hard on that aspect of his game ... has also excelled academically and has earned a number of honors for his classroom work.
2010-11
Made a huge leap as a sophomore, becoming one of the top Mid-Major big men while earning Patriot League Player of the Year honors ... became only the third sophomore to earn PL Player of the Year award ... later became an AP Honorable Mention All-American and NABC First Team All-District 13 ... earned First Team All-Patriot League honors ... was also named Patriot League Tournament MVP after leading the Bison to their first championship since 2006 ... earned Benton A. Kribbs Award as team MVP ... paced the Bison in scoring (14.9), rebounding (7.3), FG% (.517) and blocked shots (67) ... led the Patriot League in blocks and ranked 3rd in FG%, 4th in rebounding and 7th in scoring ... his 67 blocks were 3rd-most in a season by any Bucknell player ... became just the 13th player in program history and the first since J.R. Holden in 1997-98 to record 500 points in a season (he finished with 507) ... started all 34 games at center and averaged 27.8 minutes per game ... shot 81.6% from the FT line ... scored in double-figures 27 times and hit the 20-pt. mark 9 times ... recorded 5 double-doubles ... became a YouTube sensation after hitting a buzzer-beater at Richmond on a "Christian Laettner Play" ... also hit a long jumper in the final seconds to beat Holy Cross at Sojka Pavilion ... named to All-Tournament Team at CBE Classic at James Madison ... averaged 13.0 ppg at JMU, including 21 pts. vs. the Dukes ... also topped 20-pt. barrier in non-league play with 22 at Saint Francis (Pa.), 22 vs. Wagner, 21 at La Salle and 20 at Cornell ... in La Salle win also had career-high 5 asst. along with 6 reb., 2 blk., 2 stl. ... held without a FG at Loyola, but had 10 reb. and went 7-8 FT ... enjoyed career night at American, logging 33 pts. (11-17 FG, 2-2 3FG, 9-10 FT), 10 reb., 5 blk. ... followed that up with 23 pts. and career-high 13 reb. vs. Holy Cross, including the game-winning jumper with 1.4 seconds left in 74-72 win ... named Oscar Robertson National Player of Week and PL Player of Week following the American/Holy Cross games ... tied school record with 8 blk. in win at Lehigh ... 4th 8-blk. game in school history ... also had 15 pts., 9 reb. at Lehigh ... went 10-15 FG and had 20 pts., 9 reb., 3 asst., 3 blk. at Army ... had 11 pts. and career-high 17 reb. and 5 asst. in home win over Navy ... in home win over American had 21 pts., 10 reb. ... clinched 60-56 road win at Holy Cross with 3-pt. play with 0:12 left ... tallied 11 pts., 10 reb., 6 blk. in home win over Army ... in Patriot League Tournament win over Army had 11 pts., 7 reb., 7 blk. ... had a double-double with 17 pts., 10 reb. in semifinal win over Lehigh ... hit 2 clinching FTs with 0:08 left in that win ... in PL championship game had 18 pts. (7-9 FG, 1-1 3FG, 3-4 FT) en route to tourney MVP honors ... scored 14 pts. in NCAA Tournament game vs. UConn ... off the court, earned Capital One Academic All-District honors and was a member of the Academic All-Patriot League Team.
2009-10
One of the Patriot League's top newcomers ... named to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team and All-Patriot League Second Team ... became just the fourth freshman in league history to make one of the all-league teams ... averaged 9.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg and 2.2 bpg ... his 65 blocked shots led the Patriot League and set a Bucknell freshman record ... that was the third-highest total in school history, trailing only Mike Butts' 100 in 1988-89 and 91 in 1987-88 ... shot 46.2 FG%, 30.0 3FG% and 80.6 FT% ... ranked 22nd in Patriot League in scoring, 16th in rebounding ... 10th in FG% ... would have ranked 6th in FT%, but just missed the minimum attempts to qualify ... averaged a team-high 13.1 ppg in league play ... shot 50.7 FG% and 86.8 FT% against league foes ... scored in double figures 16 times, including 9 of last 12 games of season ... breakout game came against eventual Sweet 16 team Cornell, when he logged 20 pts. (9-11 FG), 7 reb., 4 blk., in 30 min. of action ... had been averaging 3.7 ppg in 7 games prior to Cornell, then averaged 11.7 ppg from that night forward ... had pair of double-doubles, including a 23-pt., 11-reb. effort in home win over Lafayette ... scoring and rebounding totals were both career highs ... made first career start Dec. 30 vs. Marist, and had team-high 18 pts. (5-11 FG, 2-2 3FG, 6-6 FT) and hit big game-tying 3FG in OT ... had huge night vs. Navy, with 16 pts. (6-9 FG), 8 reb., 7 blk. ... block total was one shy of school record ... missed game at Lafayette due to ankle injury, then returned from 1-game absence to score 16 pts., including last 4 of the game, in 62-61 win at Colgate ... had multiple blocks in 19 games ... PL Rookie of Week on Dec. 7 and Dec. 21.
HIGH SCHOOL/PERSONAL
Full name is Michael Peter Muscala ... born July 1, 1991 in St. Louis Park, Minn. ... parents are Bob Muscala and Mary and Thomas Maida ... has a sister, Madeline Maida ... three-year letterman and two-year captain of the Roseville Area High School basketball team ... first junior captain in program history ... two-time all-conference selection ... third team all-metro as a senior ... finalist for Minnesota Mr. Basketball honors ... academic all-state selection ... as a senior averaged 23.8 points, 14.8 rebounds and 4.4 blocks per game ... broke game, season and career school records for points, rebounds and blocks ... finished with 1,228 points, 747 rebounds, 172 blocks ... had 36 points and 24 rebounds -- both school records -- against Mounds View in 2008-09 ... ranked No. 11 on list of top Minnesota seniors by MinnesotaPreps.com ... played for coach Bartt Pierce ... selected to play in a high school all-star series following his senior season, then played in the Howard Pulley Pro City League against a number of Division I players ... played AAU ball for the Minnesota RoadRunners ... majoring in management ... named to Patriot League Academic Honor Roll as a freshman ... Capital One Academic All-District Team and Patrot League All-Academic Team as a sophomore.
