Hodge Announces Signing of Seydou Traore
May 04, 2026 04:09 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University men's basketball coach Ross Hodge has announced the signing of Seydou Traore to a grant-in-aid to join the Mountaineers in 2026-27.
Traore, a 6-foot-6, 220-pound senior guard/forward from the Bronx, New York, will come to Morgantown from Utah.
"We are really excited to add Seydou to our WVU men's basketball program," Hodge said. "He has experience playing in several of the top conferences in the country and has competed against the best teams and players in college basketball. Seydou is a two-way player with great size and length who can impact the game in a lot of different ways. He brings a competitive edge and maturity that will be felt throughout our entire program."
As a junior at Utah, Traore averaged 9.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, starting 31 contests. He had season highs of 23 points against San Jose State, eight rebounds against Holy Cross and four assists at Arizona State. Traore had five 3-pointers made against San Jose State, four 3's against Purdue Fort Wayne and four 3-point field goals against Arizona State. He reached double figures 14 times, including 17 points in games against Purdue Fort Wayne and at West Virginia.
Traore attended Iowa as a sophomore and played in 27 games with 12 starts. He averaged 5.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists while shooting 43.6% from the field. Traore had a season-high 15 points against No. 8 Michigan State and had 14 points at No. 25 Maryland in 17 minutes of action.
As a freshman at Manhattan, Traore started 27 of the 28 games he played in and was second on the team in scoring (11.8 ppg), first in rebounds (8.2 rpg), second in assists (2.3 apg) and first in blocks (1.3 bpg). He was named to the 2023-24 All-MAAC Rookie Team after leading the MAAC in blocked shots. Traore recorded his first career double-double in his collegiate debut at Bryant with 12 points and 11 rebounds and followed that up with 16 points and eight rebounds at No. 1 Kansas. He had a career-high 17 rebounds against Fairleigh Dickinson and a season-high 20 points at Iona. Traore closed out the season with a double-double against Iona in the MAAC Tournament with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Traore went to high school at Our Saviour Lutheran School in New York and played AAU basketball with the New York Lightning and New York Dragon.
Traore, a 6-foot-6, 220-pound senior guard/forward from the Bronx, New York, will come to Morgantown from Utah.
"We are really excited to add Seydou to our WVU men's basketball program," Hodge said. "He has experience playing in several of the top conferences in the country and has competed against the best teams and players in college basketball. Seydou is a two-way player with great size and length who can impact the game in a lot of different ways. He brings a competitive edge and maturity that will be felt throughout our entire program."
As a junior at Utah, Traore averaged 9.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, starting 31 contests. He had season highs of 23 points against San Jose State, eight rebounds against Holy Cross and four assists at Arizona State. Traore had five 3-pointers made against San Jose State, four 3's against Purdue Fort Wayne and four 3-point field goals against Arizona State. He reached double figures 14 times, including 17 points in games against Purdue Fort Wayne and at West Virginia.
Traore attended Iowa as a sophomore and played in 27 games with 12 starts. He averaged 5.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists while shooting 43.6% from the field. Traore had a season-high 15 points against No. 8 Michigan State and had 14 points at No. 25 Maryland in 17 minutes of action.
As a freshman at Manhattan, Traore started 27 of the 28 games he played in and was second on the team in scoring (11.8 ppg), first in rebounds (8.2 rpg), second in assists (2.3 apg) and first in blocks (1.3 bpg). He was named to the 2023-24 All-MAAC Rookie Team after leading the MAAC in blocked shots. Traore recorded his first career double-double in his collegiate debut at Bryant with 12 points and 11 rebounds and followed that up with 16 points and eight rebounds at No. 1 Kansas. He had a career-high 17 rebounds against Fairleigh Dickinson and a season-high 20 points at Iona. Traore closed out the season with a double-double against Iona in the MAAC Tournament with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Traore went to high school at Our Saviour Lutheran School in New York and played AAU basketball with the New York Lightning and New York Dragon.
College Basketball Crown Recap
Thursday, April 16
Ross Hodge, Honor Huff & Brenen Lorient | Oklahoma Postgame
Sunday, April 05
Ross Hodge, Treysen Eaglestaff & Brenen Lorient | Creighton Postgame
Saturday, April 04
Ross Hodge & Honor Huff | Stanford Postgame
Thursday, April 02
