Khalifa is taking his talents to the Ville.
Aly Khalifa won’t be following Mark Pope to the Kentucky Wildcats.
On Thursday, the former BYU Cougars center committed to the Louisville Cardinals.
This comes after Khalifa visited Louisville on the same day. He was also considering Kentucky and a return to BYU.
Khalifa will be redshirting this season.
NEWS: BYU transfer Aly Khalifa has committed to Louisville, his agent @DanielPoneman tells @On3sports. He will be redshirting this upcoming season.
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
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 18, 2024
The 6-foot-11, 270-pound native of Egypt was originally a class of 2020 signee of Charlotte, where he spent three years while redshirting in his first year with the 49ers.
After a limited role in 2021-22, Khalifa became one of the top players for a Charlotte team that won the CBI Tournament in the 2022-23 season. He averaged 11.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists on 51% shooting from the field and 38% shooting from 3-point range that year.
After going into the portal in the 2023 offseason, Khalifa landed at BYU, where he averaged 5.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.0 assists while shooting 38.6% from the field and 31.5% from 3-point land this past season.
When Khalifa first entered the transfer portal, it looked like he might follow Pope to Lexington. However, news quickly broke that Kentucky was hosting Drexel center Amari Williams for a visit. Both guys play exclusively at the 5 spot, so it seems Pope wasn’t all-in on bringing Khalifa to Lexington if he was already lining up a visit with a guy like Williams. Kentucky is also working to get a visit with Oklahoma State center Brandon Garrison.
And with news that Khalifa will redshirt, it’s pretty apparent that Kentucky was more interested in other options.
Still, he would have been a solid pickup for Kentucky, who does not have a transfer committed to play for next season, if for no other reason than to help implement Pope’s system in practice. Incoming recruits Travis Perry and Collin Chandler are the only players confirmed players for next season.