Abdoul Karim Coulibaly

Abdoul Karim Coulibaly (born 23 December 2000) is a Malian college basketball player for the UMass Lowell River Hawks of the America East Conference. He previously played for the Pittsburgh Panthers and the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. Coulibaly is also a member of the Mali national basketball team.

Abdoul Karim Coulibaly

Coulibaly with Pittsburgh in 2020
No. 13 – UMass Lowell River Hawks
Position	Power forward
League	America East Conference
Personal information
Born	(2000-12-23) 23 December 2000 (age 23) Bamako, Mali
Nationality	Malian
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High school	Scotland Performance Institute (Scotland, Pennsylvania)
College	Pittsburgh (2019–2021) St. Bonaventure (2021–2022) UMass Lowell (2022–present)
Career highlights and awards
Second-team All-America East (2023)
Medals Men's basketball Representing  Mali FIBA Under-19 World Cup 2019 Greece Team FIBA Africa U18 Championship 2018 Mali Team

Early life

Coulibaly grew up in Bamako and played soccer before switching to basketball at age 13, immediately excelling in the new sport.^[1] He moved to the United States at the age of 14 and attended the Scotland Performance Institute in Scotland, Pennsylvania. As a senior, he averaged 15.6 points and 11.4 rebounds per game on a team that finished 36–2. Coulibaly earned 2019 Mid-Atlantic Conference Player of the Year honors. He scored over 1,000 points and led the school all-time in scoring, rebounds, single-game points (42) and single-game rebounds (22).^[2]

College career

Coulibaly played sparingly as a freshman and averaged 2.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. He increased his scoring to 4.9 points per game over the past eight games. Coulibaly thought that he did not improve much due to a poor work ethic, and struggled with errors in translation as his native language is Bambara.^[3] On 23 January 2021, he scored a career-high 15 points in a 76–75 loss to Wake Forest.^[4] As a sophomore, Coulibaly averaged 5.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. Following the season, he transferred to St. Bonaventure, choosing the Bonnies over Georgetown, Arizona State, Wichita State, Butler, VCU, George Washington, Marshall, and Bradley.^[5] He averaged 3.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game as a junior. Coulibaly transferred to UMass Lowell following the season.^[6] As a senior, he averaged 11.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.^[7] Coulibaly was named to the Second Team All-America East Conference.^[8]

National team career

U19 national team

Coulibaly has represented Mali in several international competitions. He averaged 13 points and 11 rebounds per game to lead Mali to the FIBA U-18 African Championship in 2018.^[2] In July 2019, he competed for the Mali team that won a silver medal at the FIBA U19 World Cup. Coulibaly averaged 13.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.1 steals per game. In the gold medal game against the United States, he scored 17 points and had three blocks.^[1]

Senior national team

Coulibaly was selected for the Mali senior team to play at AfroBasket 2021. In 17 minutes per game, he averaged 5.7 points.^[9]

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2019–20	Pittsburgh	26	0	9.9	.420	.000	.480	1.7	.2	.2	.2	2.7
2020–21	Pittsburgh	22	20	22.5	.511	.333	.690	3.9	.9	.7	.9	5.2
2021–22	St. Bonaventure	33	1	9.6	.500	.333	.609	1.7	.2	.3	.4	3.7
Career		81	21	13.1	.483	.300	.597	2.3	.4	.4	.4	3.8

References

1. Thompson, Steven (February 5, 2020). "Change a constant in Coulibaly's basketball journey". The Pitt News. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
2. "Abdoul Karim Coulibaly Officially Joins Bonnies Men's Basketball". St. Bonaventure Bonnies. August 11, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
3. Meyer, Craig (August 11, 2021). "2020 Pitt basketball exit interview: Abdoul Karim Coulibaly". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
4. "Massoud scores 31 with 8 3s, Wake Forest beats Pitt 76–75". ESPN. Associated Press. January 23, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
5. Michalowski, George (August 11, 2021). "Former Pitt Forward Abdoul-Karim Coulibaly Transfers to St. Bonaventure". Pittsburgh Sports Now. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
6. Pollock, Chuck (May 5, 2022). "Transfer portal, NIL creating havoc for Bona". Olean Times Herald. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
7. "UMass-Lowell plays in America East Tournament against the New Hampshire". USA Today. Associated Press. March 7, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
8. "Vermont's Sullivan Tabbed Kevin Roberson Player of Year to Headline 2022-23 Men's #AEHoops Award Winners". America East Conference. March 3, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
9. "Mali National Basketball Stats - RealGM". basketball.realgm.com. Retrieved 3 September 2021.

External links

• St. Bonaventure Bonnies bio
• Pittsburgh Panthers bio
• UMass Lowell River Hawks bio