Pacific adds 6'3" G Jefferson Koulibaly to their backcourt

Becomes first Canadian in Dave Smart's '24-'25 recruiting class

The Tigers continue to fortify their backcourt as 6’3” Jefferson Koulibaly recently committed to the program, marking Coach Dave Smart’s first recruit out of Canada.

The Montreal, Quebec native, who played his high school basketball for Coach Zach Angelini at Lincoln Prep in Hamilton, ON, has had an injury-plagued college career at multiple programs. On the heels of being named 2019-20 MVP of the OSBA (Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association, Canada’s highest prep league) and regarded as a Top 5 Canadian prep prospect, Koulibaly reclassified to the Class of 2020 and accepted a scholarship to Washington State before his 19th birthday, where he was injured early in his freshman season and obtained a medical redshirt season. He averaged 2.6 ppg in 16 games of ‘21-’22 again battling injuries before leaving the Cougars program in February ‘22. The high-scoring prep guard then transferred to Southern Methodist (SMU), playing in 18 of the first 20 games of the ‘22-’23 campaign before being sidelined by injury once again and subsequently entered the portal in March ‘23. Koulibaly sat out this past season ostensibly to become fully healthy again before joining the Tigers earlier this week. A top student, Koulibaly was named to the AAC All-Academic team and was an NABC Honors Court recipient. He represented Canada at the FIBA U16 Americas Championship in 2017 (5.2 ppg/13 mpg) under Head Coach Craig Beaucamp.

Coach Smart: “Jefferson entered college early at a younger age into a veteran-laden conference (Pac-12 with Washington State) and unfortunately had to deal with various injuries throughout the early part of his college career. We are comfortable that he is healthy again and that he will be a meaningful addition to our roster as a more physically mature player. We expect Jefferson to be an impact player in the WCC.”