Former 4-star PF Yohan Traore commits to SMU
On Tuesday night, SMU landed a commitment from UC Santa Barbara forward Yohan Traore, he told On3’s Joe Tipton. The 6-10, 225-pound big man entered the NCAA Transfer Portal early this month and visited SMU this month.
UCF, Arizona State, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, TCU and others showed him serious interest, but he’s joining Andy Enfield in leaving California for Texas. The France native has two years of eligibility remaining.
Traore began his career at Auburn as a highly-touted prospect, but left after playing in 25 games. Traore averaged 14.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game per game while shooting 58.3 percent from the field for the Gauchos. He started all 30 games he played and averaged nearly 29 minutes a night.
He averaged 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in the 2022-23 season for the Tigers.
Traore played high school basketball at Dream City (Ari.) Christian School, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 23 overall recruit and No. 4 power forward in the country in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
SMU roster for ACC continues to take shape with Traore added
With Traore on board, SMU now has transfer commitments from four players. Oregon guard Kario Oquendo, Long Beach State guard AJ George and Wake Forest point guard Boopie Miller are committed to the Mustangs.
New SMU head basketball coach Andy Enfield has been here before and he’s ready to take on the challenge of bringing success to the program as it transitions to the ACC.
“This is a premier institution, university in the country academically, athletically,” Enfield said. “We have to get to that point in the men’s basketball program. So it’s a challenge to the coaching staff, a challenge to the players and everybody within our program. We all have to do this together. I don’t do anything by myself.
“I have great support staff as a head coach, I try to hire the best people possible to do that. Recruit players that want to be here, that want to work and want to elevate this program to the national level. And so, what that looks like is to be determined, but we’re excited to get started immediately.”
To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.
