Charlotte Transfer Aly Khalifa Sets BYU Visit

Mar 31, 2023 - 9:47 PM

BYU is getting a potential impact player on campus as Charlotte big man transfer Aly Khalifa will take an official visit to BYU, sources close to Aly and BYU tell me. He is scheduled to visit BYU April 7-9.

Listed at 6-foot-11 and 230 pounds, Khalifa is a versatile stretch big man. He was one of the top players for a 49ers team that won the CBI, averaging 11.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists on 51% shooting from the floor and 38% shooting from three. Khalifa was 48-126 from three on the season, and 41% of his field goal attempts were from deep. What’s notable is that Charlotte is one of the slowest paced teams in the country. According to KenPom they were 362 out of 363 D1 teams in tempo, so they had fewer possessions than the average team.

A native of Alexandria, Egypt, Khalifa has two years of eligibility remaining. He redshirted his first year on campus and won C-USA Freshman of the Year in 21-22. He averaged 3.5 assists as a freshman and has been one of the best passing big men in the country the last two seasons. Khalifa shot 20-57 from three as a redshirt freshman (35%), and increased his efficiency as a sophomore even while more than doubling his attempts.

The KenPom advance metrics shine a light on how versatile Khalifa is. Khalifa was top 100 nationally this last season in effective field goal %, 163 in defensive rebounding %, 401 in offensive rebound %, and had a turnover rate of 15.3%. His turnover rate was better than any BYU player.

Khalifa is a sought after transfer, but BYU getting him on campus for a visit is notable. A source close to Aly told me he is also visiting Florida. He has the skillset to play on the floor with Atiki or Fouss and gives BYU much needed interior size. Aly will need to improve his lateral quickness if he plays at the P6 level, but his skill set complements BYU’s current front court very well and gives BYU something they don’t have on the team currently.

You can watch highlights of Khalifa below. Charlotte dubbed him the “Egyptian Magician” before his sophomore year. You can see the shooting ability from Khalifa, but his passing ability really jumps off the page as well.