(Photo Cred: @aly_khalifa15)
Pat Kelsey now has a starting lineup worth of commitments with number five coming in BYU transfer center Aly Khalifa.
NEWS: BYU transfer Aly Khalifa has committed to Louisville, his agent @DanielPoneman tells @On3sports. He will be redshirting this upcoming season.
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 18, 2024
The 6-11 big man chose the ‘Cards over Kentucky and his former head coach Mark Pope. He also considered a return to BYU.… pic.twitter.com/5bxoq9TQbB
Khalifa chose the Cardinals over BYU and UK, his former team and head coach. The 6-11 270 pound big man will redshirt this coming year to recover from a knee injury that requires off-season surgery.
This past season at BYU, Aly helped lead the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament by starting 26 of 29 games, averaging a steady 5.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.0 assists.
The Egyptian spent two prior seasons at Charlotte where he averaged a career best 11.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in ‘22-’23.
Even though his scoring numbers don’t pop out, Khalifa is known as one of the best passing bigs in college basketball. He ran as a rare point center in BYU’s offense where he was able to get the ball into scorer’s hands effectively.
Over half of Aly’s shots came from behind the three point line a season ago (92 of his 153 attempted shots) which explains his 38.6 FG%. He was able to hit 31.5% from three in his only year at BYU while being 35.3% for his whole collegiate career, not bad for a near 7-footer.
It is hard to read Khalifa’s fit since he won’t play in-game with the 2024-25 roster but his great passing ability will be what helps him impact the following year’s team. His field goal percentage shouldn’t be too much of a scare because of the likely role Aly will be put in which is getting the ball into shooter’s hands efficiently, something he is great at doing.
In under 20 minutes a game at BYU, Khalifa was second in both total assists (115) and assists per game (4.0), being career highs even though he averaged 26.5 minutes in his prior two seasons at Charlotte. Along with a career high in total assists, he would have a career low 32 turnovers.
Khalifa joins his former international teammate Reyne Smith as part of the historic portal class the Cardinals have brought in, including J’Vonne Hadley, Terrence Edwards, and James Scott.
Scott is the only player on the 2024-25 roster currently that has more than one year of eligibility left. Consensus 5-star big man and #8 player in the country Jayden Quaintance is on an official visit with the Cardinals and has the chance to become Pat Kelsey’s first high-school commitment during his Louisvillle tenure.
New path, really excited to be a part of this family.❤️🖤❤️#reviVILLE pic.twitter.com/cROd8XpyNY
— Aly Khalifa (@Aly_khalifa15) April 19, 2024
