In His First Season at Cal, Mady Sissoko Spreads His Wings

In his 152nd college basketball game, Mady Sissoko showed off all his talents.

A four-year player at Michigan State before transferring to Cal this season, Sissoko delivered the best performance of his life on Saturday, scoring a career-high 21 points on 9-for-10 accuracy from the field and grabbing a career-best 15 rebounds to lift the Bears to an 82-71 victory over Boston College.

He’s never been better than he was the final 10 minutes when he scored 13 of the Bears’ final 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Cal broke open a tight game.

“Mady Sissoko is a fierce competitor. He’s a great player,” Cal coach Mark Madsen said. “He’s someone that prioritizes winning and team over all else.”

Saturday’s win was a huge priority for the Bears (13-16, 6-12), who locked up a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Cal plays its final two regular-season games Wednesday at No. 14 Louisville and Saturday at Notre Dame.

A 6-foot-9 senior center who grew up in the African nation of Mali, Sissoko was expected to be a solid presence in the paint for the Bears. But there seemed to be a ceiling on his game.

He played 57 games for coach Tom Izzo before scoring in double digits for the first time. He didn’t assemble his first double-double until his 91st career outing.

In 124 games playing on Michigan State teams that advanced to the NCAA tournament all four seasons, Sissoko averaged 2.8 points and 3.7 rebounds. He put up 10 points or more just seven times with the Spartans.

Mady Sissoko | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

But he has blossomed in Berkeley, averaging 7.9 points and 7.8 rebounds while shooting nearly 66 percent. He has 11 double-digit performances in 29 games and over the past four has produced 13.3 points and 9.5 rebounds.

“He’s a very talented player. His game is only beginning to unfold here. Madsen said. “As much as he’s shown and as good of a game as he had (vs. Boston College), he’s only scratching the surface of who he is as a player.

“Our whole locker room, everybody is just thrilled for all his progress,” Madsen said.

Sissoko apparently is carrying less weight than in the past and that’s made a big difference, his coach suggested.

“That’s one of the things that we really believe in for bigs — be strong enough to bang but be light enough to run, to be active, to be light on your feet. And Mady really bought into that,” Madsen said.

“You see him outrunning people. You see when other players are getting tired, Mady gets stronger, he gets more physical.”

Madsen believes Sissoko has a bright future as an international professional but there may be an opportunity for him to play another season with the Bears.

According to national college basketball reporter Jon Rothstein, the NCAA is considering a rule change that would give all college athletes five years of eligibility instead of four. Athletes impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic were granted an additional year.

No word from the NCAA on whether the change might actually happen or when. Madsen said there has been some dialogue in the Cal basketball office about the possible move.

“I would characterize these as more exploratory conversations, trying to figure this out, see if it’s even a possibility. To see if that is under consideration for imminent review at the NCAA,” he said. “If it’s going to be pushed out, it probably won’t work. If it’s going to be imminently decided, maybe it could.”

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