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Aly Khalifa is transferring to BYU after playing for the Charlotte 49ers. He is a big pick for them after a season full of ups and downs.
Aly Khalifa
Aly Khalifa 6-11 230 lbs from Alexandria, Egypt. He will be a Junior this upcoming season. Khalifa played in 65 games and started in 64 of those games. He played about 26 minutes per game. He has not been a big scorer but is a big guy to put underneath the hoop. Khalifa helped the 49ers to their first-ever post-season championship he averaged 10.5 points a game, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists this season. He did more as the season went on and had some season highs in March while his team played in the Conference USA tournament. After a big season for Khalifa, he was named to the All-Conference team as an honorable mention. He also led the team to the CBI Championship game and won the CBI tournament this postseason.
Khalifa will be a great fit on and off the court for the Cougars. Offensively he can score and get rebounds. He will also be a great compliment to Fousseyni Traore and Atiki Ally Atiki. Defensively he will be more important as he can block with the best of them and will be great to help the Cougars on that end of the floor. The Cougars struggled on both ends of the ball last season but needed a better defense near the end of the game. He most likely won’t be a starter this season but will be big off the bench when the others need a breather. Also keep a look out for him if the Cougars struggle to remain healthy down the stretch towards the Big 12 tournament.
I’m so very happy for our Cougs! I spent 4 years in the middle east and love the people there. I hope that Coach Pope can mold this man into a superb center. It seems he’s already on his way!