Aly Khalifa Transferring to Louisville to Redshirt

The last week has been a weird one for the BBN. The transfer portal moves of Aly Khalifa are similarly strange.

A 6-foot-11 Egyptian athlete, last season he played point center for Mark Pope at BYU. In 20 minutes a game, Khalifa did not bang in the post to score points. His numbers are unremarkable in that regard, averaging only 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per contest.

What made Khalifa an important piece of the puzzle for Pope was his passing ability. In the five-out offense, Khalifa found open teammates cutting to the basket and setting up behind the three-point line, dishing out 4.0 assists per game.

Even though the numbers were not flashy, he appeared to be a nice piece to add to Mark Pope’s first roster at Kentucky. He was the first person to enter the transfer portal following Pope’s departure and did so with a “Do Not Contact” tag. That typically means it’s an open and shut case. Most expected Khalifa to quickly announce a commitment to Kentucky.

That’s when things started getting weird. Khalifa shared he would officially be visiting Louisville. Despite the news, the Cards weren’t serious contenders, right? Surely, this would be an easy rivalry recruiting win for Mark Pope. We were wrong.

Before the conclusion of his official visit to Louisville, he announced his commitment to the Cards, the fifth transfer portal commitment for first-year head coach Pat Kelsey.

But then it got even weirder. On3’s Joe Tipton reports Khalifa will be redshirting next season at Louisville.

A redshirt? Really? Nobody redshirts in college basketball anymore, let alone someone who has already played three years of college basketball already. It makes no sense.

There is one easy explanation that clears up this odd decision-making process. Sources inform KSR that Khalifa is not playing next season due to injury. That explains why he is redshirting and maybe why Mark Pope was not aggressively recruiting his former player to join him at Kentucky.

Aly Khalifa will be a Card. Get ready to learn line beard, Buddy.