Kalifa Sakho | courtesy of Sam Houston Athletics

Houston men’s basketball has made two additions to its 2025-26 roster via the transfer portal. Over the past week, the Cougars landed senior forward Kalifa Sakho and junior guard Pop Isaacs.

Reinforcement at the forward position

This past Friday, Sakho’s agency, WEAVE, announced his commitment to Houston.

The former Sam Houston Bearkat averaged 7.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and blocked 1.4 shots while starting all 32 games last season. He rejected two or more shots in a game 18 times as a Bearkat.

In the season prior, Sakho played 33 games for Utah State, averaging 2.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per night.

Sakho also played two seasons for South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, from 2021-23, where he appeared in 62 games, including 13 starts.

Boasting a 7’4” wingspan, Sakho falls in line with the archetype coach Kelvin Sampson seeks out in his big men.

Sakho will offer size, length and experience after the departures of graduate forward J’Wan Roberts and senior forward Ja’Vier Francis.

Houston adds a scoring threat

On Tuesday night, Isaacs announced his commitment to the Houston Cougars through his agency, PNW Sports Group.

Isaacs saw career numbers all across the board with Creighton this past season, averaging 16.3 points alongside 4.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists while shooting 38.3 percent from beyond the arc.

His best performance of the season came against then-No. 1 Kansas in December, where he scored a season-high 27 points on 6-9 shooting from deep in a 76-63 Creighton win.

However, it’d end up being his final performance as a Bluejay due to a hip injury that required season-ending surgery, limiting him to just eight games.

It wasn’t the first time Isaacs had dealt with hip issues, as he had hip surgery last offseason.

No stranger to the Big 12 conference, Isaacs spent his freshman and sophomore seasons with Texas Tech, where he averaged 13.9 points and 3.1 assists across 59 games, receiving third-team All-Big 12 honors in 2023-24.

The acquisition of Isaacs brings another shot-creating combo guard to Houston after losing graduate guard L.J. Cryer, whose 15.7 points led the Cougars in scoring this season.

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“Houston men’s basketball lands forward Kalifa Sakho, guard Pop Isaacs through transfer portal” was originally posted on The Cougar