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Yankuba Sima

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Yankuba Sima
Sima with Manresa in 2021
Valencia Basket
PositionCenter
LeagueLiga ACB
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1996-07-28) 28 July 1996 (age 28)
Girona, Spain
NationalitySpanish / Gambian
Listed height2.11 m (6 ft 11 in)
Listed weight102 kg (225 lb)
Career information
High schoolArlington Country
(Jacksonville, Florida)
College
NBA draft2018: undrafted
Playing career2018–present
Career history
2018Breogán
2018–2022Manresa
2020→Ourense
2022–2023Reyer Venezia
2023–2025Unicaja
2025–presentValencia
Career highlights
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Spain
U20 European Championship
Silver medal – second place 2015 Italy
Gold medal – first place 2016 Finland

Yankuba Sima Fatty (born 28 July 1996), is a Gambian-Spanish professional basketball player for Valencia Basket of the Liga ACB and EuroLeague. He has also represented the Spanish national team internationally. Standing at 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m), Sima plays in the center position.

Early life and youth career

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Born in Girona, Catalonia to Gambian parents, Sima started playing basketball at age 7 in local club CE Santa Eugènia de Ter. He later joined the academy of CB Sant Josep. Sima would also join the Canarias Basketball Academy before moving to the United States to continue his studies and further develop his career.[1]

Sima attended and played high school basketball for Arlington Country Day School and Elev8 Institute in Delray, Florida.[2]

College career

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Sima played his freshman year of college for St. John's of the Big East Conference. In the 2025-16 season he averaged 7.3 points per game and led the team in rebounds per game with 5.7. He achieved the second highest number of blocks in the conference with 60.[3]

In the 2016-17 season, he transferred to Oklahoma State midseason after playing 10 games for St. John's. In the 2017-18 season, Sima led the team in blocks with 1.1 per game.[2]

Professional career

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Bàsquet Manresa (2018–2022)

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Sima returned to Spain in 2018 to pursue professional basketball. He initially joined CB Breogán on a trial period at the start of the 2018-19 season, but he never made his debut for the Galician team.[4] Sima later signed with Bàsquet Manresa of the Liga ACB in December 2018.[5] He made his professional debut on December 24, 2018, in a Liga ACB game against Obradoiro.[6] In March of 2019, Manresa extended Sima's contract until 2022.[7] After seeing little playtime during the 2019-20 season Sima joined Club Ourense Baloncesto on loan in January 2020, playing the rest of the season in the LEB Oro.[8]

Sima spent two more seasons in Manresa, recording his best numbers in the 2021-22 season. He averaged 7.4 points and 4 rebounds per game in a total of 36 games played.[9] Sima also reached the 2022 Basketball Champions League Final Four with Manresa, losing the final to Lenovo Tenerife.[10]

Reyer Venezia (2022–2023)

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Sima joined Reyer Venezia in July 2022, competing in the LBA and the EuroCup.[11] Seeing little playtime, Sima would leave the Italian side in January 2023.[12]

Unicaja Málaga (2023–2025)

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Sima joined Unicaja Málaga of the Liga ACB and Basketball Champions League in January 12, 2023.[13] Unicaja would win the 2023 Copa del Rey in Sima's first season, but he missed the competition due to injury.[14] Owing to his good performances with the Andalusians, Sima's contract was extended for another season in June 2023.[15] In his second season with Málaga, Sima would win the 2023-24 Basketball Champions League.[16] Sima's contract was extended with two additional years in July 2024.[17]

The 2024-25 season would be Sima's most successful yet, winning the Intercontinental Cup, the Spanish Supercup and the Copa del Rey. Sima recorded his best numbers with Unicaja in the Copa del Rey semifinal against La Laguna Tenerife, scoring 21 points.[18]

Valencia Basket (2025–present)

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On July 4, 2025, Sima signed a three season contract with Valencia Basket of the Liga ACB and EuroLeague. Valencia paid the release clause of the contract that bound Sima to Unicaja.[19]

National team career

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Sima represented the Spanish U20 team in the 2015 and 2016 U20 European Championship, winning the latter.[20]

He made his debut for the Spanish national team in November 2021, in a win over North Macedonia during the 2023 World Cup qualifiers. Sima was Spain's top scorer with 17 points.[21]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance index rating
 Bold  Career high

Domestic leagues

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Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 Spain Manresa ACB 21 8.4 .476 - .350 2.0 .1 .3 .3 2.2
2019–20 Spain Manresa ACB 1 11.1 .750 - - 7.0 1.0 - - 6.0
2019–20 Spain Ourense LEB Oro 7 18.1 .575 - .600 4.3 .6 .4 .3 8.7
2020–21 Spain Manresa ACB 34 9.4 .596 - .526 2.3 .5 .3 .1 5.9
2021–22 Spain Manresa ACB 36 17.3 .533 - .585 4.0 .9 .6 .6 7.4
2022–23 Italy Venezia LBA 6 7.5 .400 - - 2.0 .8 .2 .3 1.3
2022–23 Spain Málaga ACB 25 15.1 .592 .000 .429 3.6 1.1 .4 .4 5.4
2023–24 Spain Málaga ACB 37 15.3 .553 .000 .591 3.3 .9 .4 .4 5.3

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015–16 St. John's 25 18 23.4 .487 .500 .386 5.7 1.2 .6 2.4 7.3
2016–17 St. John's 10 8 17.8 .447 - .720 3.5 .6 .4 .5 6.0
2017–18 Oklahoma State 27 8 14.6 .500 .000 .425 3.1 .3 .5 1.1 3.7
Career[22] 62 34 18.7 .484 .333 .459 4.2 .7 .5 1.5 5.5

Personal life

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Sima speaks Catalan, Spanish and English. He has four brothers and two sisters. One of his brothers, Ousman Sima [es], plays basketball professionally for Albacete Basket.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Jiménez, Juan (29 November 2021). "El fin de los "días grises" de Yankuba Sima". as.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Yankuba Sima". okstate.com. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  3. ^ "Yankuba Sima". redstormsports.com. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  4. ^ Cabrera, Jorge (26 December 2024). "El curioso lazo de Yankuba Sima con el Breogán". malagahoy.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  5. ^ "El gironí Yankuba Sima fa el salt a l'ACB fitxant pel Manresa". diaridegirona.cat (in Catalan). 22 December 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  6. ^ "Yankuba Sima debuta a l'ACB en la victòria del Baxi Manresa a Galícia". emporda.info (in Catalan). 25 December 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  7. ^ "Yankuba Sima renova amb el BAXI Manresa fins el 2022". basquetmanresa.com (in Catalan). 28 March 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  8. ^ "Yankuba Sima jugarà cedit a l'Ourense". basquetmanresa.com (in Catalan). 12 January 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  9. ^ "Yankuba Sima (Temporada a temporada)". acb.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  10. ^ Pérez Ramos, Jesús (9 May 2022). "87-98: El Lenovo Tenerife vence al Baxi Manresa y se corona campeón". mundodeportivo.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  11. ^ del Río, Marc (29 July 2022). "Yankuba Sima, poderío para la pintura del Venezia". sport.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  12. ^ "El Reyer Venezia anuncia la desvinculación con Sima". malagahoy.es (in Spanish). 12 January 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  13. ^ Askounis, Johnny (12 January 2023). "Yankuba Sima switches to Unicaja Malaga". eurohoops.net. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  14. ^ Fernández R., Juanje (14 February 2023). "El Unicaja pierde a Sima para la Copa". marca.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  15. ^ "Yankuba Sima, potencia para el viaje hasta 2024". acb.com (in Spanish). 16 June 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  16. ^ Fernández R., Juanje (28 April 2024). "El Unicaja se corona en Europa y gana la FIBA Champions". marca.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  17. ^ Fernández R., Juanje (18 July 2024). "El Unicaja cierra la renovación de Yankuba Sima hasta 2026". marca.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  18. ^ del Río, Marc (15 February 2025). "Sima lidera a un Unicaja coral hacia la final de Copa". sport.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  19. ^ "Valencia Basket strengthens its frontcourt with the arrival of Yankuba Sima". valenciabasket.com. 4 July 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  20. ^ Vinue, Guillermo (27 July 2022). "Informe: ¿Llegan los jugadores de la sub20? Un repaso a cómo ha sido la trayectoria de selecciones anteriores". gigantes.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  21. ^ "Yankuba Sima lidera en su debut una victoria cómoda de España". superdeporte.es (in Spanish). 26 November 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  22. ^ "Yankuba Sima College Stats". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
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