Utah Runnin' Utes head coach Alex Jensen enters his first season at the helm of his alma-mater. Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Utah basketball announces transfer forward will miss 2025-26 season with injury

Originally posted on Utah Utes on SI | By Cole Forsman | Last updated Sep 22, 2025 5:10 PM ET

The Utah basketball program announced Monday that fifth-year forward Babacar Faye will miss the 2025-26 season after sustaining a leg injury in practice.

Faye, a 6-foot-9 transfer via Western Kentucky, will be expected to make a full recovery, according to a news release from the Utah athletic department.

Faye played in 10 games last season due to a knee injury he suffered in a Dec. 14 contest against Murray State. Hilltoppers head coach Hank Plona said in February that Faye had applied for a medical redshirt, granting him another year of eligibility. He previously played two seasons at College of Charleston before transferring to Western Kentucky ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.

Faye was expected to bring favorable size, athleticism and productivity to Utah's frontcourt in the upcoming season. Rated a three-star transfer on 247Sports, Faye checked in as the second-most valuable player on Utah's 2025-26 roster based on his Bayesian Performance Rating on EvanMiya.com. Faye's 2.34 BPR score — a projection of how valuable each player is to his team on both offense and defense — trailed only Keanu Dawes' 4.83 score.

In his limited time on the court during the 2024-25 season, Faye averaged 15.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals while shooting 53.7% from the field and 80.4% from the free throw line. He recorded double-digit outings in eight of his 10 appearances last season, including a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double against Evansville. He also posted a career-high 28 points to go along with eight rebounds, one assist, one block and a steal in the Hilltoppers' season opener against Wichita State.

Prior to his time in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Faye played in 65 games across two seasons for Pat Kelsey's Cougars and put up 4.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in 15.7 minutes per game.

A native of Saly, Senegal, Faye attended the NBA Academy Africa in Senegal prior to making the jump to Division-I hoops in the U.S. He was invited to participate in the 2020 NBA Basketball Without Borders Global Camp held at NBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago, which featured the top international-born teenagers as selected by the NBA and FIBA.

Faye's injury news came with less than a month to go until the new-look Runnin' Utes hit the hardwood for the first time under head coach Alex Jensen, when they host Nevada for an exhibition game at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Utah will then hit the road for a second friendly against Oregon on Oct. 24 before officially tipping off the regular season on Nov. 3 with a matchup against San José State.

This article first appeared on Utah Utes on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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