Forward Karim Coulibaly, who verbally committed to Pitt on Feb. 15, signed his scholarship agreement Tuesday and will join the team this season.
Coulibaly (6-foot-8, 220 pounds) is the fourth member of coach Jeff Capel’s 2019 recruiting class to sign.
All four members of Pitt’s 2019 class have signed with the program after today’s signing of Karim Coulibaly.
— Pitt.MBB (@PittHoopsMBB) May 21, 2019
“Karim is a crafty post player with the ability to knock down shots from the perimeter and guard multiple positions on the floor,” Capel said in a statement. “He plays with great energy and is a very good rebounder. Karim is going to be a terrific addition to our program on and off the court.”
Coulibaly scored more than 1,000 points while helping Scotland Performance Institute, a Pennsylvania school, to 57 victories and consecutive No. 1 prep national rankings the past two seasons. He averaged 15.6 points and 11.4 rebounds per game while shooting 64.2 percent from the field and was named Mid Atlantic Conference Player of the Year this season.
He chose Pitt over scholarship offers from St. Joseph’s, Tulane, Boston College, Penn State, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Providence, Rutgers and St. John’s.
Coulibaly will play for his native Mali at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Greece later this summer. He averaged 13.6 points, 11 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game to lead Mali to the FIBA U18 African Championship last year. He was third at the event in rebounds, including a tournament-high 24 rebounds in a semifinal victory against Angola. He shot 58.7 percent (48 of 89) from the field and recorded three double-doubles in 22.2 minutes per game over the eight-game tournament.
Pitt has nine players on scholarship, including incoming forwards Coulibaly, Justin Champagnie and Gerald Drumgoole and former junior college guard Ryan Murphy.
