Sissoko Backstory: from Mali to Michigan State commitment

When he arrived in the United States on a student visa three years ago, Mady Sissoko spoke very little English and knew next to nothing about the game of basketball.

“Mady is a unique individual,” said Sissoko’s guardian Mike Clayton. “He grew up as a Muslim in Mali, Africa. He lived in a village eight hours away from civilization where they had no running water or electricity. He would help plow the fields with an ox. He would pull the weeds and harvest the corn. He grew up a very hard worker, a very humble person, very respectful of his father and parents, and the village chief.”

Sissoko’s agrarian background ingrained in him an unflagging work ethic. That background along with a support network of caring individuals like Clayton, have enabled the Sissoko, a Michigan State-commitment, to blossom into one of the most sought-after basketball recruits in the 2020 recruiting class.

“Almost every college team in the country contacted us with interest in him,” said Clayton. “It’s miraculous when you look at where he’s come from, and where he’s at now.”

Sissoko, who committed to Michigan State on Tuesday, is the highest ranked recruiting prospect in Michigan State’s 2020 recruiting class at No. 40 in the latest revision of the Rivals150. And at 6-9, 225, with a 7-foot-4 wingspan, Sissoko is arguably the highest-ceilinged big man to commit to Michigan State since Jaren Jackson Jr., a consensus Top 20 prospect, McDonald’s All-American in 2017, and eventual lottery pick of the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Sissoko is far less polished than Jackson was when he arrived at Michigan State. Being raw is completely understandable for Sissoko when one considers his unfamiliarity with basketball before arriving in the U.S.A. three years ago. But Sissoko, ever a tireless worker, has picked the game up quickly, and shown a willingness to push toward his immense ceiling.

"Sissoko gets lots of acclaim for his power dunking, physical rebounding and hard-nosed defense,” Rivals.com basketball analyst Eric Bossi said. “What also stands out to me, though, is that he has a great sense for what his strengths and weaknesses are. At the same time, what has allowed him to get better is that he doesn't want weaknesses to remain weaknesses. He has greatly improved as a scorer, has learned to pass out of double teams and is starting to knock down the 12 to 15 foot jump shot. He was highly recruited not only because of his talent, but he has the type of work ethic and character that coaches want to have in their program."

Sissoko selected Michigan State from a group of finalists that included Brigham Young University, Kansas, and Memphis during a press conference at his high school, Wasatch Academy, located in Mount Pleasant, Utah. Sissoko also considered UCLA, Texas A&M, Wake Forest, Colorado, Kentucky, Oregon, and Utah among others.

His motor will make Sissoko a favorite of his teammates and Michigan State fans alike, predicts Bossi.

"Sissoko is one of the most fun players to watch in the class of 2020,” Bossi said. “He has an incredible motor, plays with toughness, plays with athleticism and is a team guy all the way through. It's obvious when you watch him that teammates enjoy playing with him and he keeps adding new wrinkles each time out. I said it before, but he seems to me like the kind of guy that Tom Izzo would design in a lab to play for him."

Mady (pronounced MAH-dee) Sissoko informed Izzo that he wanted to be a Spartan before returning to Utah from East Lansing, where he spent last weekend on an official visit. Sissoko had been on campus previously as an unofficial visitor.

Last weekend’s official visit, however, helped Sissoko make a choice between his final two, Michigan State and BYU. Michigan State led for Sissoko before the official visit, but BYU was still in the mix.

“We weren’t completely committed before we went and we did really like BYU,” Clayton said. “They had a coaching staff with a lot of NBA experience. Going to a smaller school, he would be guaranteed a lot of playing time and developing time. He would be the player from the city at the college. There were a lot good things there, because BYU has good people. Michigan State made the initial impression that ended up being the lasting impression that was so strong.”

In Sissoko, Michigan State is getting an elite athlete with tremendous upside, along with the willingness to do the work necessary to maximize his potential.

“Mady is a great young man,” Jimmer Elite Coach Kevin Nixon said. “He is incredibly humble. His greatest attributes are his athleticism and his motor. I’ve never been around a player with a better motor. He will fit in at Michigan State because he is tough. Mady is really excited to be playing for coach Izzo and can’t wait to get to East Lansing.”

Clayton, the administrator of the Utah Valley Eye Center in Provo Utah, met Sissoko a little more than three years ago, while he and a team of medical professionals were in Mali to perform cataract surgeries for individuals, who would otherwise have no access to such procedures.

“I work with an ophthalmology practice in Provo, Utah and we have gone on annual medical expeditions since 2011,” Clayton said. “We go every year during Thanksgiving Week and we seek villagers that need cataract surgeries, and give them their sight back.”

Due to unrest and the threat of physical violence that existed in certain parts of the country, the group retained the services of armed security personnel.

“We started to bring a couple of Mali military guys with our group to help with protection and make some of the people in our group feel a little safer,” Clayton explained. “Mady’s brother happened to be one of the military guys that was with our group.”

At some point in the trip, Sissoko’s older brother mentioned his younger brother to Clayton.

“Mady’s brother is very tall and he was telling me that he is the second oldest of 10 children and that he had a little brother named Mady, who was the youngest of 10 children, was taller than he was,” Clayton said. “He asked me if there would be any way to bring Mady to the United States and give him an education and help him learn how to play basketball. We really didn’t think that was a possibility because we had never done that before.”

Without the knowledge of Clayton or the others in the group, Sissoko's brother made a grueling eight-hour trip via motorcycle along dirt roads to the village where his youngest brother lived. He returned back the same way with Sissoko, whom he introduced to Clayton.

“We felt obligated to meet him and talk to him,” Clayton said. “He was so tall. I was like, ‘Let’s go find a hoop somewhere and see if he has any athletic ability.’ Over the next three months, we did what was necessary to get his visa for education because they don’t give visas out for kids to come over and learn basketball. We found him a private school here in Utah that taught English as a second language and a strong basketball program and he was issued a visa to come to the U.S. and he has been here ever since.”

As a minor, Sissoko needed a guardian in the United States in order to obtain an education visa.

“It’s a requirement,” Clayton said. “I willingly accepted that. When I met with the family, I said, ‘Are you okay with me being his legal guardian? I promise that I will take care of his health and well-being and his financial needs. And you need to hand him over and allow me to make decisions, should they arise.’

“They were like this is a great blessing to have one of our children go to USA. In fact we want to give to you two of our village cows. I wasn’t able to put them in the truck. But they were like, he is all yours, we trust you and God bless you.”

Clayton has made yearly trips back to Mali to visit Sissoko's family.

“I have been able to go back and visit his family each year since he’s been gone and I’ve been able to share video with them,” Clayton said. “They are so happy and proud of him.”

Sissoko’s inability to understand or communicate in English during his first year at Wasatch Academy made it difficult for him to play a substantial role on the basketball court.

“That first year, his English was really rough and he saw little basketball playing time because he didn’t understand what the coach was saying or where he needed to be on the floor,” Clayton said.

Sissoko’s breakthrough, however, came the following spring and summer as a member of the Utah-based grassroots program Jimmer Elite.

“He was fortunate enough to play on an AAU team that played the ball through him on almost every play,” Clayton said. “He just started to develop unbelievably. From then on he’s kept with the language and gotten a lot better.”

Sissoko also had other barriers to overcome. As a youngster, Sissoko spent more time working in the fields to help his family than attending school. From the day he began attending Wasatch Academy until now, Sissoko has worked tirelessly to meet the academic requirements necessary to pass through the NCAA Clearinghouse.

“Having very little schooling growing up and being never able to read or write his own language growing up, he has come a long way,” Clayton said. “He is tireless. He improved his ACT score from one year to the next so that he is qualified for the NCAA. He actually got better scores than some of the other American athletes on his team. He has just worked hard at everything.”

Michigan State assistant coach Mike Garland was at Wasatch Academy to evaluate one of Sissoko’s teammates when the high-motored Malian center caught his eye.

Garland asked Wasatch Academy coach David Evans about Sissoko. Evans pointed in the direction of Clayton.

“Coach Evans told Garland that I was his guardian, told him to talk to me,” Clayton said. “So he came over and we started talking and he was like, ‘Man, this guy is flying under the radar. He’s got a motor. He’s got length, speed, determination and all of this.’”

Garland put Clayton on the phone with Tom Izzo a short while later.

“We just started talking and got on the phone with Coach Izzo right then,” Clayton said. “We talked and it developed into a relationship on the phone and then we went out and had an initial visit in April or May.”

The first trip to Michigan State made a strong impression on Sissoko, so much so that Jimmer Elite Coach Kevin Nixon believes that unofficial visit set the tone for the remainder of Sissoko’s recruitment.

“When he came back from his first visit in the summer, I knew it was Michigan State. He loves Izzo and everything about the program,” Nixon said.

Clayton admits that selfishly he would have preferred that Sissoko play closer at BYU, but also concedes that choosing Michigan State was the right decision.

“I have the responsibility to what was right for Mady and not what would be in my best interest,” Clayton said. “Ultimately, the decision came down to Coach Izzo and his staff. They are unbelievable people who care about the boys, like I’ve never seen before. When you see them interact with the players both on the court or in the home, you see how well he molds them and cares about them.”

Sissoko was down to BYU and Michigan State before his official visit last weekend. Sissoko committed to Michigan State before returning to Utah. He announced his commitment in a press conference at his high school the following Tuesday.

“It was funny because we were in the conference room with Coach Izzo and Garland, who are trying to sell the program and we’re here wanting to tell them that he wants to go to Michigan State,” Clayton said. “They kept going and going then finally they were like, ‘Mady do you have anything that you want to say?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, I want to tell you that I want to come to Michigan State.’

“All of a sudden, Coach Izzo jumps up and runs over and hugs him. It was so awesome.”

The family atmosphere at Michigan State made it easier for Clayton to entrust Sissoko to the Spartan program. But the tradition of excellence in Izzo’s program, as well as the transparency within the recruiting process, also appealed to both Sissoko and his guardian.

“The big pitch was tradition and look at our record,” Clayton said. “Look at how many NCAA tournament appearances in the last however many years. How many Final Fours. It’s amazing the tradition that they have and what Coach Izzo has done year after year without any glitches, without probations, or any problems like that. There aren’t many teams like that in the country.”

Michigan State was one of the only schools that didn’t promise Sissoko a starting job when arrives on campus. And the Spartans also spoke freely about the other players that they were recruiting.

“We just felt that Michigan State was more up front and transparent,” Clayton said. “They told us everybody that they were recruiting and that was probably one the things that helped more than anything. We had open communication about everything. There are a bunch of other really fantastic coaches out there, so it was difficult but it came down to Mady doing a lot of praying and doing what his heart told him in the end.”

Clayton was also impressed with the program’s commitment to player development.

“When you go into the weight room they have a book that shows each player all the way from when they were a freshman until they are seniors and you can see how physically and athletically they’ve been transformed over that four-year period and how they have grown and developed,” Clayton said. “Having players on the team now that have enhanced their chances to be drafted into the NBA, and seeing how genuine and likeable they were.”

Engaging with individuals like Cassius Winston, Josh Langford, and Xavier Tillman, each of whom has continued to improve every year they’ve been in the Spartan program, gives Clayton confidence that Sissoko will follow a similar path.

“I feel like we need to stay and play at Michigan State for as long as we can to develop him so he can reach as much of his potential as he can before he goes anywhere else,” Clayton said. “Once you go, you can’t go back. When you look at Michigan State with guys like Cassius, Xavier, and Josh Langford sticking around so long, it has really paid off for them. And I think it will really pay off for them in the long run. And the example of guys like that helped us want to go there.”

When he traveled to Mali three years ago, Clayton never imagined that he’d return to his home in Provo with one of the most sought-after recruiting prospects in the country. Clayton admits that their were moments he felt like he was in over his head.

“I have three children of my own and I am used to being a parent, but it was overwhelming when I started getting AAU teams calling and wanting him to go on this trip and that trip,” Clayton said. “I never wanted to let him go into the hands of people and players I didn’t know. I possibly got a little bit overprotective because I care for him so much and I don’t want him to slip into any of the bad ways that us Americans tend to get into. Growing up, he didn’t know anything about cell phones. He doesn’t drink or smoke or anything in accordance with his religion. He is devout and he honors the values that he grew up with.”

During Sissoko’s official visit to Michigan State, however, Clayton became convinced that the Spartan program was the right fit. He also enjoyed watching Sissoko interact with his future teammates.

“He was able to spend time with the players and interact with them, even in the evenings,” Clayton said. “He got to see what it was like to live with them in their apartments. He just gelled with them. They were joking with each other and gabbing with each other. It was great to see him so happy and fitting into that environment.”

Michigan State University's presence in Mali also served as a form of reassurance for Clayton that Sissoko had made the right decision.

“Michigan State has an agricultural school that is one of the best in the nation, and that is what Mady grew up in,” Clayton said. “Michigan State also has an office in Bamako, Mali. They have multimillion dollar grants through USAID to help Malians improve productivity in their crops and in their fertilizers. We didn’t even know about this until we started visiting. One of the professors at Michigan State goes to Mali three times a year to help these people. When Mady found this out, it impacted him because that is what Mady is all about. ‘How can I help my people? How can I help these farmers so that they don’t have to work so hard?’

“There were so many things that made it so right.”

Sissoko could have visited Kansas and Memphis after Michigan State, but chose to cancel those previously scheduled trips.

“We actually had planned official visits to Kansas and Memphis, but we got to the point where we were like, why are we doing that?” Clayton explained. “We know what we want. You hear great stuff about the all of the schools and they are all promising that he is going to be starting and there all the other players that they are recruiting that they didn’t tell you about. Players from the past that came for a year and transferred because it didn’t work out.”

Based on his improbable journey to Michigan State, and the accomplishments he has already enjoyed, there seems little chance that things won't continue to work out well for Mady Sissoko as he begins the next chapters of his life.