Louisville Center Aly Khalifa's Eligibility Waiver Denied by NCAA

Originally posted on Louisville Cardinals on SI
By Matthew McGavic | Last updated May 15, 2025 12:27 PM ET

One of the Louisville men's basketball program's top expected contributors for the upcoming season might have to sit on the sideline.

Center Aly Khalifa's waiver to extend his eligibility clock and play for the upcoming 2025-26 has been denied by the NCAA, the program announced in a statement Thursday. Khalifa and Louisville plan to appeal the decision.

"University of Louisville men’s basketball student-athlete Aly Khalifa’s request for an extension of his five-year clock that would allow him to utilize his fourth and final season of eligibility was denied by the NCAA," the statement read.

"The University of Louisville is appealing that decision and believes that Aly has a strong case that warrants an additional year. After earning his bachelor’s degree, Aly continues to work towards a master’s degree at the University while preparing for the 2025-26 basketball season."

The 6-foot-11, 250-pound center joined as transfer from BYU last offseason, but had to redshirt the 2024-25 season to rehab a knee injury. During this rehab process, he lost nearly 50 pounds after weighing as much as 299 during his official visit in April of 2024.

Khalifa, who previously played his first three years at Charlotte before spending a season with the Cougars, had also redshirted his true freshman campaign with the 49ers in 2020-21. Having played three on-court seasons in five years, Khalifa's waiver sought to extend his eligibility clock to six years. Under normal circumstances, student-athletes have five years to play four on-court seasons.

While the 2020-21 season had various COVID-related waivers attached across collegiate athletics, none applied to Khalifa. Additionally, Khalifa and Louisville could not just simply apply for a medical waiver on the 2024-25 season, as the waiver to extend the eligibility clock had to come first, per NCAA guidelines.

When healthy, Khalifa is one of the best passing big men in the nation. In 29 games and 26 starts with BYU during the 2023-24 season, he averaged 4.0 assists to just 1.1 turnovers per game, with his 3.59 assist-to-turnover ratio ranking seventh in D1. He also put up 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, and shot 38.6 percent from the field plus 31.5 percent on threes.

His best season came as a redshirt sophomore at Charlotte in 2022-23, when he averaged 11.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 34 starts. As a redshirt freshman with the 49ers, Khalifa was named the Conference USA Rookie of the Year after putting up 7.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 32 appearances and 30 starts.

Over the last few weeks, Louisville's front court has taken a couple big hits, and now there are some massive question marks there. On top of Khalifa being ruled ineligible, center James Scott opted to enter the transfer portal at the 11th hour back in late April.

As a result, this leaves Kasean Pryor and Sananda Fru as the only true big men on the Cardinals' roster. That being said, Pryor is coming off of a torn ACL, and Fru is making the jump from playing overseas in Germany.

Louisville Center Aly Khalifa's Eligibility Waiver Denied by NCAA

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