He 'doesn't get talked about enough,' but Fouss Traore closed out BYU win 13 years in making

DENVER — Fousseyni Traore started 62 of his first 92 games in a BYU uniform, but when the senior from Bamako, Mali, came into the season with first-year head coach Kevin Young, he's done most of his damage from the bench.

As the sixth-seeded Cougars tried to win their first NCAA Tournament game since 2012, Traore was more than happy to close out VCU.

The 6-foot-6 stalwart out of Wasatch Academy had 13 points, nine rebounds and two assists on an efficient 4-of-7 shooting to help BYU to an 80-71 win over 11th-seeded A-10 champions VCU in front of an announced crowd of 19,291 fans Thursday afternoon at Ball Arena, going from the run of one-and-done of the Cougars' last four NCAA Tournament appearances to won, done and a second-round tilt Saturday with Wisconsin.

Formerly a double-figure scorer who nearly averaged a double-double as a freshman and sophomore when he started all but 12 games in two seasons, Traore has come off the bench in 32 of 33 contests during his 25-9 senior campaign.

But none of that mattered as he was walking off the court in front of a roaring, BYU-friendly crowd alongside former Wasatch Academy teammate Richie Saunders, who had a team-high 16 points in the win, and the rest of his teammates and brothers.

"This actually mean everything to me, especially senior year," Traore said after the game. "Like we just don't want to go down like that. Every single game can be our last game, you know?

"No matter what, we just going to get it done," he added. "Like we just got one down, five more to go."

Traore's journey from West Africa to rural Sanpete County to four years in Provo hasn't always been easy. When head coach Mark Pope left for the same position at his alma mater Kentucky, Traore — like the rest of the team — was given a free transfer portal window to decide if they wanted to stick around in Kevin Young's first season, or find a new home.

While some transfer stories — specifically, Saunders or point guard Dallin Hall — are well-documented, Traore's never got going. That's mostly because he never wavered from BYU, staying loyal to the program he's represented for four years while also representing his family and Islamic faith.

And when the Cougars needed a bucket the most, they knew just where to throw it to the Cougars' career leader in field-goal percentage who ranks second in offensive rebounds, sixth in total rebounds and 18th in double-doubles.

On three straight possessions in the second half, and VCU trying to come back from a 20-point deficit, Hall found Traore in the paint for an easy bucket.

BYU out-scored the Rams 38-20 in the paint, including 20 combined points from posts Keba Keita and Traore, who Saunders will jokingly call both his big brother and little brother — "depends on how you look at it," he says with a laugh.

"When he's doing well, when he's cooking down low, it's so fun to watch, so fun to play with that," Saunders added. "When you know you need a bucket, Fousseyni — I can't remember the streak, two or three in a row — you know the ball is going right back to him. You know his defender is scared.

"He deserves every bucket. He's worked hard. Just super happy."

Even when his minutes crept downward, from 18.3 per game as a junior to 17.5 as a senior, Traore was the sturdy "rock" in the middle, Hall added. No wonder, then, that the point guard whose role similarly changed as he found success off the bench in his junior season finds a commonality with his third-year teammate.

"They went small because their bigs were in foul trouble, and Fouss was demanding the ball," Hall said of VCU, "which I love. Also, he was just making great plays out of the roll.

"I feel like Fouss is one of those guys who doesn't get talked about enough. He's super humble, but a big-time player. I'm really happy for him."

Traore told Hall before Thursday's postseason tipoff, "Let's take it."

"And I thought he did a great job going out there and taking it today," the point guard from Plain City said. "He's a guy who doesn't draw attention to himself, but he takes of his business, he treats people the right way, and he plays extremely hard.

"He also has a crazy field-goal percentage, he's efficient, and he shoots free throws great. Fouss is an incredible player, and an even better person. What he's done for this program and for each of us cannot be talked enough about."

For at least one more game — until Saturday's second-round tipoff against third-seeded Wisconsin (27-9) — people can talk about Traore's BYU career.

"We definitely believe that this is a special team," he said. "We really believe in each other."

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