Moussa Cissé (basketball)

Cissé was born in Conakry, Guinea, and lived there until age 14, when he moved to New York.^[1] He had grown up playing soccer.^[2] Cissé started playing high school basketball for St. Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey, playing alongside Precious Achiuwa.^[3] For two years, he played for Christ the King Regional High School in Queens, where he was teammates with Kofi Cockburn.^[4] As a sophomore, Cissé led his team to the Class AA state title game.^[5]

For his junior season, he transferred to Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tennessee.^[6] On 25 November 2019, Cissé recorded 31 points, 22 rebounds and 21 blocks, surpassing the Shelby County single-game blocks record held by Mitch Omar since 1976–77.^[1] He led Lausanne to the Division II-A state championship, where he was named most valuable player after posting 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocks against First Assembly Christian School.^[5] As a junior, Cissé averaged 18.4 points, 15.3 rebounds and 9.2 blocks per game, earning Division II-A Tennessee Mr. Basketball honors.^[2] He broke Michael Wilson's single-season city record for blocks per game set in 1989–90.^[1]

Cissé was a consensus five-star recruit, according to major recruiting services, and was considered a top 10 player in the 2021 recruiting class.^[7] On 27 May 2020, he announced that he would graduate from high school a year early and reclassify to the 2020 class, where he remained a five-star recruit.^[2] On 15 July, Cissé committed to play college basketball for Memphis. He was drawn to the program by head coach Penny Hardaway and former high school teammate Precious Achiuwa, who had played for Memphis in the previous season.^[8]

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Moussa Cissé C	Conakry, Guinea	Lausanne Collegiate School (TN)	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jul 15, 2020
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (92)
Overall recruit ranking:    Rivals: 14    247Sports: 12    ESPN: 24
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Memphis 2020 Basketball Commitments". Rivals. Retrieved 7 August 2020. "2020 Memphis Tigers Recruiting Class". ESPN. Retrieved 7 August 2020. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved 7 August 2020.

At Memphis, Cissé posted his first double-double on 2 December 2020, scoring 14 points and securing 10 rebounds in an 83–54 victory over Arkansas State.^[9] In his freshman year, he averaged 6.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, earning American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year honors.

On 6 April 2021, Cissé declared for the 2021 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility.^[10] He later withdrew from the draft and entered the transfer portal. On 15 July 2021, he transferred to Oklahoma State, choosing the Cowboys over Florida State, Georgia and Kentucky.^[11]

In his sophomore year, Cissé was named Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year, alongside Baylor’s Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua and West Virginia’s Gabe Osabuohien.^[12] He averaged 7.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game.^[13] As a junior, he was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.^[14]

After the 2022–23 season Cissé entered the transfer portal for a second time, later committing to play for Ole Miss over offers from UCLA and Cincinnati.^[15]

For the 2024–25 season, Cissé transferred back to Memphis.^[16]

On 8 July 2025, Cissé was signed by the Dallas Mavericks.^[17] On 18 October, the Mavericks converted Cissé's contract into a two-way contract.^[18]