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Houston Cougars MBB Welcomes Kalifa Sakho for 2025-26 Season
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POSTED: April 21, 2025 -- 3:51 p.m. CT
Center Kalifa Sakho will join the Houston Cougars Men's Basketball program for the 2025-26 season after signing a scholarship agreement, Head Coach Kelvin Sampson announced Monday.
Sakho will compete as a graduate student and have one season of eligibility.
"I like that Kalifa is a veteran and comes from a successful program with a really good coach," Sampson said. "He gives us great size in the frontcourt and is a tough player. He can rebound the ball and protect the paint and has a game that fits well with how we play. We're excited to have Kalifa as part of our family."
Standing 6'11" and weighing 230 points, Sakho competed for Sam Houston during the 2024-25 season and was one of only two Bearkats to start all 32 games. He averaged 7.9 points per game with team bests of 6.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots per contest.
A native of Rouen, France, Sakho scored a season-high 22 points at Lamar (Nov, 17, 2024). It was one of 10 games in which he scored double-digit points.
Sakho – whose name is pronounced Kuh-Leef-Uh Sah-ko – grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds at New Mexico State (Jan. 2) and swatted four shots at Middle Tennessee (Feb. 22).
Before competing for the Bearkats, Sakho played in 33 games for Utah State during its Mountain West Conference regular-season championship season in 2023-24. Playing in 33 games, he shot 66.0 percent (35-of-53) from the field while averaging 2.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.
In addition, he received Academic All-Mountain West honors for his work in the classroom.
Sakho played for two seasons at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, competing in 62 games with 16 starts. He averaged 5.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 59.8 percent (137-of-229) from the field and scored double-digit points 13 times with three double-doubles.
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