Report: Southern Illinois guard Ali Dibba expected to transfer to Texas A&M

Southern Illinois transfer guard Ali Dibba is reportedly expected to transfer to Texas A&M, according to The Athletic’s Tobias Bass. Dibba will have one season of eligibility remaining.

Dibba is a 6-foot-5, 205-pound shooting guard originally from Sweden who averaged 17.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. He also shot 49% from the floor in 34.1 minutes per game last season with the Salukis.

Texas A&M is Dibba’s fourth college, having begun his career at Chicago State in 2021-22, where he averaged 13.4 points in 26 minutes per game that season. He then spent the 2022-23 and 23-24 seasons at Abilene Christian, where he led the team in scoring, averaging 15.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, before moving on to Southern Illinois.

Dibba is the second transfer commitment in August for first-year Aggies head coach Bucky McMillan, who was hired away from Samford in April to replace Buzz Williams, who left to coach Maryland following the completion of the 2024-25 season. Texas A&M also landed former Kansas guard Noah Shelby out of the transfer portal on Aug. 3 after redshirting last season in Lawrence.

Shelby was an invited walk-on for the Jayhawks. He began his college career at Vanderbilt, where he made 14 appearances. Shelby averaged 3.7 points in 9.1 minutes per game for the Commodores. Shelby transferred to Rice after his lone campaign at Vanderbilt. At Rice, Shelby saw action in 31 games and started once. He averaged 3.9 points and 1.0 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game while shooting 35.1% from the field.

New A&M coach Bucky McMillan brings ‘Bucky Ball’ to College Station

Dibba is the 12th transfer McMillan has brought in since his April hiring, with Dibba and Shelby following commitments from former Creighton guard Pop Isaacs, former Indiana forward Mackenzie Mgbako, and former Jayhawks shooting guard Rylan Griffen.

McMillan was Samford‘s head coach for the past five seasons,  amassing a 99-52 overall record during his tenure. He had his best season at Samford in the 2023-24 campaign when he led the Bulldogs to a 29-6 record, a 15-3 mark in conference play, a Southern Conference regular-season title, a conference tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance.

McMillan also guided Samford to a SoCon regular-season championship in the previous season. For his efforts, McMillan won the Southern Conference Coach of the Year Award three consecutive seasons (2022-24).

McMillan’s teams are known for their fast pace. McMillan’s entertaining style of play has affectionately come to be known as “Bucky Ball.” Samford averaged 82.9 points per game last season, the 14th-most in the country.

McMillan’s teams don’t slow down on defense, constantly pressing their opponents. Samford ranked in the top 20 in the country for opponent turnover percentage the past two seasons.

Now, McMillan will look to carry over his success to the Power Four level. With players like Shelby by his side, he should have a strong roster entering his debut campaign at the helm of the Aggies.

— On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this report.