CEDAR FALLS – The UNI men’s basketball team on Wednesday announced the addition of Levi Valdo to the 2025-26 roster.
Valdo is the fourth player to sign with the Panthers this spring, joining NAIA First Team All-American Tristan Smith (Elizabeth, Colo. / Concordia [NE]), as well as a pair of international players in Canadian Ismaël Diouf (Saint-Jean-Sur Richelieu, Quebec / North Carolina State) and Croatian Marino Dubravcic (Otocac, Croatia / Baylor).
The Panthers also added high school seniors Jalen Wilson (Minneapolis, Minn. / Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School) and Geon Hutchins (Detroit, Mich. / Warren Lincoln High School), via signing day last fall.
Valdo joins the Panthers with four years of eligibility.
“Through our relationship with our former strength coach Andrea Comini, we were able to get involved in the recruiting process with Levi,” explained UNI head men’s basketball coach Ben Jacobson. “We learned quickly that Levi is a tremendous young man. Levi’s current coach, Stefano Bizzozi, speaks very highly of his character, his work ethic and his basketball abilities. Watching film of Levi, it was an easy decision to get involved and want to learn more about him. He has very good positional size and can really score the basketball. We look forward to Levi joining us in July!”
A six-foot, four-inch, 215 pound guard originally hailing from Cameroon, Valdo played this previous season with Foppiani Fulgor Fidenza in Serie B Italy. In 38 regular season appearances, he averaged 16.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.5 steals and 0.4 blocks in 30.9 minutes per game, helping his team to a 20-18 record and birth in the play-offs where they faced off against Ruvo di Puglia.
Shooting 45.2% from the field, Valdo notably notched five double-doubles and recorded ten games of 20+ points, including a season-high 29 points in the regular season finale against Fulgor Omegna in April. He also pulled down a season-best 14 rebounds in November, as well as a seven steal performance in December.
(TOP IMAGE via @valdolevi)