Wesly Rosa didn’t pick up a basketball and start playing until he was 18 years old. Now, the big man is playing for Creighton men’s basketball in 2026.
Rosa grew up São Vicente, Cape Verde, never imagining he’d one day come to the United States to play basketball.
“At 18 years old they just said, ‘You’re tall, you should play basketball,’” Rosa told Hurrdat Sports. “I gave it a try, and now I’m here.”
“Tall” doesn’t quite do Rosa justice. The center stands 7-foot-2 and weighs 270 pounds.
He spent a few months playing basketball in Cape Verde before moving to the United States to see where the game might take him.
Rosa attended Bridgeport International Academy in Connecticut where he played his senior year of high school. He said he began learning the game with the promise of an education making America all the more appealing.
“I always had this dream to come to the United States to study, and my mom and my family can’t afford to pay for college, because college is pretty expensive,” Rosa said. “I said, ‘OK.’ They said, ‘You can go D-I, D-II, community college. I said, ‘Oh man, as soon as I can get an education in the United States, for me that’s great.’”
Rosa chose the junior college route, spending two years at Dodge City Community College in Kansas while continuing to learn how to play the game.
In his first season with the Conquistadors, Rosa averaged 5.2 points on 61.7% shooting, 7.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in just 15.5 minutes per game, starting 18 of his 29 contests. In his second season, he upped those numbers to 8.0 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.7 blocks in 21.2 minutes per game with 21 starts in 24 appearances. He also led all community college players by shooting 75.2% from the field and was second in blocks with 99.
Now, his basketball journey has come full circle in joining the Bluejays. He said the first college basketball game he ever watched was a Big East tournament game in which Creighton was playing.
“I took a picture with some guys, they were Creighton fans, and they were carrying some Creighton gear,” Rosa said. “They said, ‘Come to Creighton, you need to come to Creighton.’ I said, ‘I don’t know if I’m good enough to play with them guys, they look really good over there.’”
Wesly Rosa dunks the ball at Creighton practice. Photo by Brandon Tiedemann.
However, new head coach Alan Huss determined Rosa was good enough to help the Bluejays. He committed to Creighton in April, though because he started college late, he is classified as a senior despite only playing two seasons of junior college. He will have two seasons of eligibility at the Division I level under the age-based eligibility model.
“It feels great actually to say I made it, but actually right now, I really like the game,” Rosa said. “I’m not just happy to make it, I want to really play at the highest level I can possibly get. I want to challenge myself and see how far I can get.”
That challenge for Rosa starts with working on Creighton’s scout team. He did not play in either of the public exhibitions but has worked to challenge the rotation bigs on the glass and provide rim protection for the guards to deal with on the practice floor. He’s willing to do his part because his goals for this season are simple.
“I expect everybody here to win,” Rosa said. “To win the Big East tournament, March Madness. I think that’s everybody in college’s goal, though, is win.”
