BYU Center Aly Khalifa Enters the Transfer Portal

Casey Lundquist | Apr 12, 2024

Feb 20, 2024; Provo, Utah, USA; Brigham Young Cougars center Aly Khalifa (50) reacts to a play / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

It's only been one day since Mark Pope left BYU for Kentucky, and BYU has already lost two starters to the transfer portal. On Friday afternoon, BYU starting center Aly Khalifa joined fellow starter Dallin Hall in the NCAA Transfer Portal. Khalifa is one of the most unique players in college basketball. He is 6'11, he plays below the rim, and he is arguably 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.

Just because Khalifa is in the portal, it doesn't mean he can't return to BYU. The new head coach can try to recruit Hall back to Provo. However, BYU doesn't have a coach in place. It's for this exact reason that we said BYU needs to move quickly to repace Mark Pope. Without a coach in place, there's no one in the chair to keep the roster together.

Khalifa's entrance in the portal is not surprising. Until a coach is in place, every player on the roster is at risk of leaving the program. Stay tuned for more transfer portal updates in the coming days.