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.
Was just watching the player interviews and what they said was pretty damning of Gottfried. You get this picture that there was no real culture and no discipline (which the average fan could see clearly). It’s like the saying, “a kid needs his dad to be a dad more than a friend.” I feel like Gottfried tried to be too much of a players coach and he lost their respect at some point.
Where did you see the player interviews I would be interested in seeing them.
do a search on wral sports fan
BFD. He speaks well. BFD.
Come on now, it’s somewhat of a deal. Have you ever heard coach Lutz speak? I mean I think he’s a really good coach but when he opens his mouth recruits will start running the other way unless they happen to be from the Appalachian.
And don’t forget about one of the best orators in State history… Jimmy V. He convinced the 83 team that they could beat Phi Slamma Jamma.
As you know my pick was Pearl. Go orator. Let’s just wait and see what this guy does before we get head over heels in love with this guy. Sure hope he does well. To Sundrip Sniffer, I have never been on PP.
I was on the Holtmann boat but like you I will take a wait and see approach. It’s a better hire than Lowe for sure. Keatts has higher potential upside than Gottfried. When we hired Gottfried he had a long resume so the upside was lower but he was more predictable.
Just shut up and go away. Only thing you ever do is complain. Go back to PP.
No need to make it personal. It’s actually healthy to have differing opinions.
He didn’t offer a different opinion, which is the problem. All he did was say Butch F Davis, and on an article on the main page.
I did offer a different opinion. My opinion is if we wanted an orator, pick a poet. If you want to win basketball games, we will have to wait and see if his words translates into wins. On the other forum, many were saying that these words were nearly identical to Sidney’s. See what we got that time.
He said all the right things during the presser. He spoke on the legacy of NC State basketball and sympathized with the fans. He definitely appears to have some charm and charisma which a good recruiter always needs. I wish him the best of luck. In all honesty he was not my top choice but I hope he surprises all of the fans.
One of the things I’m hoping for is that he is a great player evaluator. Not all 4-5 star players are created equal. I thought one of Gott’s problems was that he recruited by star level and not by coachability or fit with team.