NC State Forward Mohamed Diarra will not be returning to NC State for his final season of eligibility. Rather, he will give 100% of his focus to pursuing his professional career.
Diarra is declaring for the NBA Draft, and will explore that possibility as far as it goes, but the likelihood of him playing professionally in his home country of France are high.
Diarra was a significant player for NC State all season long, averaging 6.3 points and 7.8 rebounds (team high), but his impact in March was tremendous, recording 10+ rebounds in 7 of the Wolfpack’s 10 postseason games, and five of those performances were double-doubles.
Wolfpack fans will always remember the grit and mental toughness that Diarra put on display in the NCAA Tournament, playing game-after-game while fasting for Ramadan.
The Wolfpack’s frontcourt just got a little bit thinner. In the past two weeks, NC State has lost Diarra and Ernest Ross. Ben Middlebrooks is returning, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield transferred in from Louisville. Dontrez Styles transferred in from Georgetown, and while he is more of a Small Forward, in certain lineups, he could play the Small 4 position. With all that being said, I fully expect NC State to try to find another post player in the Transfer Portal with Diarra’s exodus now official.
With Diarra not returning in 2024, NC State now has 2 scholarships available for next season.
I noticed The DCB in the VT game. It was weird because I immediately thought of DeMario Pressley wearing #92. He looked like he was holing his own out there, and then some. The future of the D-line is bright. Hopefully, the immediate future.
Just testing out our new comment feature. Let’s try to keep article specific comments, questions and concerns in the comment sections and use the forums for other discussion that does not have an article related to it.
Anyone can now post comments. You can sign in a guest, use your Pack Insider log-in, comment using facebook or even twitter. It’s now open to everyone. Let’s get some discussion going.
Gottfried has definitely been an upgrade to the past 3 coaches both in recruiting and results. But I feel like too many people judge Gott based on the 3 previous coaches before him. If you compare anyone to those 3 they would look good. I wish people would compare Gott to all coaches in Wolfpack history. Here is how I grade Gottfried: Recruiting based on ranking = A to A- (kentucky being an A+) Player Evaulation = B- In Game Adjustments = C+ Half-time Adjustments = B+ to A- (credit may go to entire coaching staff?) Timely and Effective Timeouts… Read more »