Utah basketball reportedly losing former 3-star recruit to transfer portal

The exodus of Utah players leaving the program and entering the transfer portal continued into the final hours before college basketball’s free agency period officially began.

Not long after Terrence Brown’s portal intentions were made public, it was reported Monday afternoon that Ibrahima Traore, a former three-star recruit from Mali, will test his value on the open market as well.

Traore, a former Oregon commit, spent the past two years with the Runnin’ Utes but only appeared in nine games due to injury. The 6-foot-9 forward sat out the entire 2024-25 campaign after suffering a season-ending injury the week prior to opening day.

Traore was a highly-touted recruit coming out of West Oaks Academy (Florida). He was tabbed by 247Sports as the No. 37 center in the 2024 class and the No. 19 player from the state of Florida after he put up 18 points per game his senior season.

Dan Lanning and the Ducks originally landed Traore’s signature in November 2023, though he wound up joining Craig Smith’s Utes just eight months later. Miami, Florida Atlantic, Texas State and College of Charleston were also in the recruiting mix.

Traore made his collegiate debut during Utah’s Dec. 20 nonconference game against Eastern Washington. Two weeks later, he scored a season-high six points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field in nine minutes against Arizona.

In total, Traore tallied 12 points, six rebounds and two steals in 56 minutes this past season.

Traore became the seventh Utah player to have their portal intentions announced prior to the 15-day transfer window, which is set to open April 7. That group includes three other forwards in Jahki Howard, Keanu Dawes and Josh Hayes.

As such, Alex Jensen and general manager Wes Wilcox will most likely be active in the portal over the coming weeks. Three starting spots, including both in the backcourt, have to be replaced, and it’s no secret the Utes need more size in the frontcourt after struggling on the boards against Big 12 competition.

Getting 6-foot-9 Western Kentucky transfer Babacar Faye back after he missed all of last season due to injury should help Utah in the paint, though Dawes’ impending departure means the Utes will have to replace their leading rebounder and add depth in the frontcourt as well.

Utah will also look to fill the voids created by the impending departures of Don McHenry and Brown — two players who scored nearly half of the Utes’ total points in 2025-26.