Karim Coulibaly knows how to finish
Laurel, MD
Getting the chance to watch the likes of Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant, and Dwight Howard in recent years, we have become infatuated with big men that can either jump over their defender, or have the ball skills to face his defender up and get to the basket off the bounce or shoot it from deep. Karim Coulibaly does neither of those at the time being and honestly, that seemed totally fine with him during his opening night session at the Gonzaga DC Classic.
A 6-foot-8 big man with extremely long arms and an excellent grasp of how to score around the basket, the St. Vincent Pallotti sophomore didn’t get off to a great start but he sure did end the evening in style. Despite going down in defeat to a talented Whitney Young program out of Chicago, Coulibaly was able to throw up a final stat line of 24 points and 11 rebounds where efficiency was never lacking.
More of a floor based forward that is more about outworking and outsmarting his opponents in the post rather than jumping over or through them, Coulibaly is one of the more sure-fire top-50 recruits out of the 2019 class. The southpaw does an excellent job of getting low and wide on the block before then sealing his man for the easy finish. While he does lack a right hand, the Mali native has excellent hands and touch to go along with fine instincts on the glass, all of which he used nicely within traffic and in producing against better athletes.
It is never too early for the recruitment process to heat up as schools have begun to show attention to the productive sophomore. “I talk to Tulane, Boston College, Maryland, WVU, and Virginia,” the Pallotti sophomore stated. Having recently visited George Washington and Maryland this fall, things are far from complete in the pursuit of the Pallotti star as his consistent production backs up the valuable traits that he possesses on the hardwood.
As he continues to improve and mature physically, Coulibaly will continued to solidify himself as one of the best within his region and make him a high-major must-see in the years ahead as a member of the 2019 class.
