Michigan State basketball center Mady Sissoko transferring to California for final year

Mady Sissoko is heading west.

The former Michigan State basketball center announced via Instagram on Monday he will use his fifth year of eligibility to transfer to California basketball.

Sissoko entered the transfer portal April 4 with one year remaining to play, thanks to the NCAA waiver from his freshman season in 2020-21. The 6-foot-9, 240-pound native of Mali, West Africa, started 26 of 35 games this season for the Spartans and averaged 3.1 points and 5.1 rebounds, 0.4 blocks and 0.9 turnovers in his 15.3 minutes. He shot 56.8% overall and 70.5% on free throws and was a plus-71 overall.

Sissoko started 56 of MSU’s 66 games the past two seasons but found himself coming off the bench over the final five games this season as coach Tom Izzo alternated sophomore Carson Cooper and freshman Xavier Booker in the starting lineup. However, Sissoko put together strong performances in the Spartans’ Big Ten tournament loss to Purdue and in the first-round NCAA win over Mississippi State and had 19 rebounds and eight points in his final three games combined.

A four-star recruit in the 2020 class out of Wasatch Academy in Utah – where his American guardian, Mike Clayton, lives – Sissoko averaged 2.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 121 games at MSU, shooting 59.3% from the field and 59.6% at the free-throw line.

The Spartans return two 6-11 big men in junior-to-be Carson Cooper and rising sophomore Xavier Booker, along with Jaxon Kohler as a junior next season. Jesse McCulloch, a three-star 6-10 forward from Cleveland, also arrives this summer as a freshman.

A.J. Hoggard also is in the transfer portal while seeking pro basketball opportunities. Those two, along with fellow classmate Davis Smith and senior-to-be Jaden Akins, graduated Friday.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

 Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes weekly on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball’s Mady Sissoko transferring to California