Transfer commit


I love that she is 6'2". Hope she can deliver on some of her listed skills. Go Gophers !
 

She was out with a knee injury when Syracuse played Minnesota at Williams last season.
 

A 5 star recruit? I’ll take it. Go Goohers!
 

http://dailyorange.com/2019/06/veronika-vorackova-kadiatou-sissoko-transfer-syracuse/

The Orange also lost a transfer to Rhode Island:
Syracuse redshirt freshman Veronika Vorackova is transferring to Rhode Island, former Syracuse assistant and first-year Rams head coach Tammi Reiss announced Sunday. Sophomore Kadiatou Sissoko also announced her transfer from SU to Minnesota via Instagram on Sunday.
...
Sissoko featured in seven games for SU in the 2018-19 season, starting one. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged nine minutes, 2.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. The Paris, France native was one of two five-star recruits to sign with the Orange in 2018 (Emily Engstler)
 


http://dailyorange.com/2019/02/kadiatou-sissoko-returns-injury-orange-seen-ups-downs/

From last February's Daily Orange article about Sissoko.

Kadiatou Sissoko stood on the perimeter and eyed the basket. She jabbed, twitched, faked. Everything but shoot. Down low, Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi muscled with a Miami defender. The jabs didn’t work as neither defender budged. Sissoko had a shot — the same one she hit attempt after attempt in practice the day before — but maybe Djaldi-Tabdi had a better one.

Sissoko’s forced pass to the inside, and the ensuing glare from Djaldi-Tabdi in the Orange’s 84-71 loss to Miami in the Carrier Dome on Jan. 23, exposed the rawness in Sissoko’s offensive game. But recent games have also provided a glimpse at the burgeoning skills that her knee injury stunted. Her past three games have featured a 1-of-6 performance, eight failed attempts from beyond the arc, a streak of seven-straight points and her first career 3-pointer. But before she can find “consistency,” she needs more time.

“I need to develop my skills more,” Sissoko said. “I need to train.”

...

The freshman said that improving her health was her biggest goal, the tallest barrier between her and the best version of her on-court self. As she develops her complementary skills, Sissoko’s performance against Virginia gave a peek at her fullest form.

“I’m kind of tall and versatile. I can do both. I can shoot the ball. I can play in the paint. I can drive. I can run,” Sissoko said. “I’m very aggressive and I need to be able to shoot the ball because sometimes they wait for me to shoot the ball because they know that I’m aggressive and stuff.”
 

https://gophersports.com/news/2019/...ta-adds-former-five-star-recruit-sissoko.aspx

We really should put names in these thread titles (here's the Gopher Sports announcement (a day after Whalenfan):
Minnesota women's basketball has announced that Kadiatou Sissoko (kah-DGEE-tau sis-OH-co), a former five-star recruit who spent her freshman season at Syracuse, will transfer in to the Golden Gophers' program.

A 6-2 forward from Paris, France, Sissoko will have to sit out the 2019-20 season due to NCAA transfer rules, but will then have three have years of eligibility remaining.

"Kadi brings a great level of versatility that we are extremely excited about," Minnesota head coach Lindsay Whalen said. "Her size at her position, as well as being able to play multiple positions, is a strength that only adds to our roster. We are thrilled to welcome Kadi to our Gopher family."

The 10th-ranked player overall and the No. 2 guard in the 2018 recruiting class according to ESPN, Sissoko will be the highest ranked recruit to play for Minnesota in at least the last 12 years (ESPN archives date back to 2007). Previously, Rachel Banham was the highest-ranked recruit when she was tabbed No. 19 in 2011.

Sissoko played in 22 games with one start for Syracuse this past season. She averaged 3.2 points and 1.8 rebounds while playing 9.6 minutes per contest, and missed eight games early in the year due to a minor knee procedure, including the contest between Minnesota and the Orange that was part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Nov. 29.

Among her freshman-year highlights, Sissoko started against Miami on Jan. 23, recording five rebounds and three points, tallied a career-high nine points versus Pitt on Feb. 21 and grabbed a career-best six rebounds at Florida State on Feb. 28.

On the international level, Sissoko, out of Lycee Marcelin Berthelot in Saint-Maur-des-Fosses, helped France to a sixth-place finish at the 2018 FIBA U20 European Women's Championship in Sopron, Hungary, as she averaged 9.1 points and 6.6 rebounds in seven games and shot 42.6 percent from the field.

She also was a member of the U18 French National Team in 2017, posting 7.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as France finished fifth.

Sissoko will be the 16th international player to ever suit up for the Gophers and the first from France. In addition, she will be one of seven newcomers for the Gophers in the 2019-20 season, joining fellow transfer Maryia Adashchyk and a five-member freshman class.
 


Looks like a good addition, at least based on recruiting class rating. Love the length (6'2") for a guard. That being said, not much of an impact last year at Syracuse. Maybe she had trouble adjusting to the physicality of the US college game? Or maybe overrated by the recruiting wonks? I hope not.
 



Looks like a good addition, at least based on recruiting class rating. Love the length (6'2") for a guard. That being said, not much of an impact last year at Syracuse. Maybe she had trouble adjusting to the physicality of the US college game? Or maybe overrated by the recruiting wonks? I hope not.

Or she was hurt? She said she played the year at around 85% in one of the stories. Also it seems like shes pretty raw offensively but a big time athlete, the redshirt year will really help her.
 


http://www.startribune.com/lindsay-...cruit-kadiatou-sissoko-as-transfer/511075482/

Some quotes from Lindsay:
"We called her," Whalen said. "We got her out here. And she liked what she saw."

"It was a good week," said Whalen, who ended the week with her No. 13 jersey being retired by the Minnesota Lynx. "We have a lot of success when we get kids here for a visit. They see the athletes village, the potential they could be a part of. It's an exciting time. They're hearing our vision. We're trying to build something special, and they see the tools we have to help them."

Whalen said she sees Sissoko being used much like the Gophers currently use Destiny Pitts, as a small forward in a smaller lineup. Sissoko has a good handle, is very quick off the dribble. "She has a nice bounce to her step when she cuts," Whalen said. "Her midrange is really good. She's going to be an exciting player for us."

Sissoko will enroll in the fall.
 




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Seems like last year’s win over Syracuse was perhaps worth more than just a +1 in the W column.

As a tall G we’ll let her defend Paige when we play UConn one of these days.
 

Seems like last year’s win over Syracuse was perhaps worth more than just a +1 in the W column.

As a tall G we’ll let her defend Paige when we play UConn one of these days.

Doesn’t Geno usually schedule hometown team visits of his seniors?
 

Looking back at last year he only played in the home state for one of the seniors. They played Cal (home state for Samuelson) but didn't go back to Missouri for Collier.

Doesn’t Geno usually schedule hometown team visits of his seniors?
 


Well that would be nice if Geno scheduled a Gopher game at the Barn as a fringe benefit for Paige. Gopher fans and Hopkins fans and Paige fans would enjoy that. And after all, Geno and Whay are buddies, after he coached her on Team USA.

But I was thinking more along optimistic lines, say perhaps Gophers taking on UConn in an Elite Eight or Final Four scenario.
 




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