JONESBORO, Ark. (5/23/25) – Arkansas State men’s basketball head coach Ryan Pannone announced Friday the signing of transfer guard Joe Chammaa to the 2025-26 roster.

Chammaa joins the Red Wolves after spending the last two seasons at San Diego. The Los Angeles native redshirted in 2023-24, but was a significant contributor off the bench for the Toreros this past season, averaging 6.5 points and 1.7 assists while tallying 22 steals.

“Joey’s a 6-0 transfer guard from San Diego – a feisty, tough, competitive player,” Pannone said. “I think our fans and community will really love that about him: how tough, how hard he plays, and how competitive he is. He’ll pick people up full-court, he gets into the ball. He’s active with deflections and steals and has some of that toughness and competitiveness on defense like a TJ McConnell or Jose Alvarado. He shot 40 percent from three in conference, and he’s a good pick-and-roll passer and decision maker who makes guys around him better.
 
“He can really push the tempo with pace and how fast he plays, kind of like a Payton Pritchard, and he gives us a really good dimension as a guard that can shoot it really well, and who can play on and off the ball with his shooting ability. He does a great job of breaking the paint and make players around him better. I think he is going to bring a lot of excitement with how fast and up-tempo he can play, with his shooting and passing ability and his competitiveness and toughness.”

In 2024-25, Chammaa played in 31 games, averaging 15.8 minutes per game. He shot 41.1 percent from the field and was a 34.5-percent shooter from 3-point range (19-55). From the free-throw line, he ranked third on the team with an 84-percent mark, going 63-for-75.

Chammaa scored in double figures 11 times this past season, including a career-best 24 against Pepperdine on Jan. 30, in which he went 12-for-13 at the charity stripe and finished an assist away from a double-double.

As a freshman, he played in five games before redshirting due to injury, scoring a season-high nine points in less than three minutes against Jackson State on Nov. 8, 2023.

In high school, Chammaa was a first-team all-conference performer as a junior and senior in which he averaged 21.4 and 22.6 points per game, respectively. He was part of a top 15 school in California in 2020-21, going 13-2.

Chammaa is now the 12^th signing for Pannone’s first season leading the Red Wolves, joining Jalen Hampton (Missouri State transfer), Chandler Jackson (Florida State), Matt Hayman (Stephen F. Austin), TJ Caldwell (Ole Miss), Chudi Dioramma (Sacramento State), Christian Harmon (Gulf Coast State College), Jaxon Ellingsworth (UT Arlington), Royal Smith (Gillion Academy), Aly Tounkara (Lindenwood), Fredy-Salam Sylla (Eastern Florida State College) and CJ Geathers (Chapel Hill HS).

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