Earning his Stripes
Malou had a decorated, five-year collegiate career with the Clemson Tigers. He was named to the 2021 All-NCAA Tournament Team as he led the Tigers to the National Championship, the third in program history. Overall, he appeared in 90 games, scoring two goals and adding eight assists across 6,957 minutes.
He played at both center and outside back during his time in the ACC, helping the Tigers to the 2021 NCAA Championship and four conference tournament titles. He was drafted by the Columbus Crew with the 27th overall pick in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft in January of that year, but was allowed to return to Clemson after an NCAA-wide eligibility waiver due to the COVID-19 truncated 2020 season.
Senegal Origins
Malou was born in Kédougou, Senegal and spent most of his childhood years there before moving to the United States in 2014 to train with premier talent at the Soccer Institute at Montverde Academy (SIMA) in Montverde, Florida. He also competed in 10 matches for the SIMA Aguilas of USL League 2 in 2017.
The head coach at SIMA is ex-Clemson player and assistant Mike Potempa, which helped lead to his opportunity with the Tigers. A few years later, Malou was the mentor as he was joined by Ousmane Sylla and Hamady Diop — both three years his junior — as Senegalese natives on the Tigers’ National Championship squad.
Tulsa to the Triangle
Malou most recently played for FC Tulsa of the USL Championship, where he appeared in 23 matches in 2023, with 20 starts, and logged 1,590 minutes. Malou won 61.15% of his duels and 65.71% of his tackles while making 41 clearances, 23 interceptions and winning 21 aerial duels. He completed 85.16% of his passes.
