BYU Center Aly Khalifa Commits to Louisville

Khalifa was BYU's starting center last year

On Thursday, BYU starting center Aly Khalifa committed to Louisville. On the same day that Mark Pope officially became the head coach at Kentucky, Khalifa entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. Khalifa entered the portal with a label of "do not contact." In the transfer portal era, that typically means the transfer has a destination in mind when they enter the portal. After narrowing down his options to Lousiville, BYU, and Kentucky, Khalifa committed to Louisville. Khalifa's commitment to Louisville is notable since they are the rival of Kentucky where Mark Pope is now the head coach.

Khalifa is one of the most unique players in college basketball. He is 6'11, he plays below the rim, and he is the best passing big man in college basketball. Khalifa had the best assist/turnover ratio in the country last year among players that were 6'5 or taller. Last season, he averaged 5.7 points per game, 4.0 assists per game, and 3.7 rebounds per game. BYU ran a lot of its offense through Aly Khalifa. It was thanks to Khalifa that BYU could run the five-out offense and shoot as many threes as they did.

Khalifa isn't the only BYU starter in the transfer portal. Point guard Dallin Hall entered the transfer portal last Thursday. Richie Saunders entered the transfer portal on Sunday.

New BYU coach Kevin Young said his top priority is to bring those players back. With Khalifa off the board, all eyes will be on Dallin Hall and Richie Saunders. Getting both of those guys back would be a big boost going into next season.