BYU's Aly Khalifa enters transfer portal with 'do not contact' classification

How about some roster movement to get the Mark Pope era started at Kentucky? And it’s a name that stole the hearts of college basketball diehards this past season: BYU’s own Aly Khalifa.

The rising senior out of Alexandria, Egypt stands 6-11, 270 pounds and was a staple in Pope’s system for the Cougars. His numbers won’t blow you away at 5.7 points, 4.0 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 19.4 minutes per game on 38.6/31.5/62.1 shooting splits.

But he’s one of the most electric players in the nation. Everything you know and love about Indiana State’s Robbie Avila — better known as Cream Abdul-Jabbar or Larry Blurred — Khalifa’s got his own Egyptian spin on it as a truly elite passing big.

Now he’s in the transfer portal with a ‘do not contact’ classification, meaning he knows exactly where he wants to go and doesn’t wish to hear from other programs. It doesn’t take much to put two and two together there — we’re watching it unfold right now with Kenny Brooks and the women’s basketball program, former Virginia Tech players follow their coach to Lexington. Expect to see plenty of that with Pope, Khalifa officially the first Cougar with a potential eye on the Wildcats.

BYU center Aly Khalifa has entered the transfer portal, per source. Started 26 games this past season for the Cougars, averaged 5.7 points and 4.0 assists. One of the elite passing big men in the country.

His entry has a "Do not contact" classification, for what it's worth.

— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) April 12, 2024

His assist-to-turnover ratio ranked among the best in college basketball this past season at 4-1.1 and he grades out on a different planet analytically in terms of usage and per-40 numbers. He doesn’t move extremely well and he’s a bit unconventional, but man, he’s got some stuff to him that fans will like.

EvanMiya.com lists him as the No. 10 overall transfer in the portal thanks to his unique skillset.

Aly Khalifa was one of the most underrated transfers last offseason, which I highlighted in my blog. If he goes to Kentucky, he will become one of the most talked about bigs in the country due to his unique skillset. He will be the 10th best transfer at https://t.co/cegyfz96ax. https://t.co/fD4PTKwmmv pic.twitter.com/V8O3ImACFV

— Evan Miyakawa (@EvanMiya) April 12, 2024

You can see some of that under Pope, carving out a very specific role in BYU’s five-out offense this past season after transferring up from Charlotte.

BYU ran some really creative Zoom Action this season with several unique wrinkles. Curling around the handoff was a speciality and unlocked the ELITE passing ability of 6'11" center Aly Khalifa.

Defenses "forced" to chase b/c that is a 38.5% 3-point shooter coming off. Love it! pic.twitter.com/ZBlBMJuKfW

— Brandon Ramsey (@BRamseyKSR) April 12, 2024

Now, the big fella out of Egypt very well may be one of Pope’s first additions at Kentucky.