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.
Sadly, Dusan is unlikely to be factor in the rest of the season. If he comes back and plays at all, the fate of the season will likely have been sealed.
I really liked him. Loved his game and his attitude.
Third consecutive year losing a starter.
Google gives me recovery times for dislocated patella ranging from 6 weeks for minor without surgery up to 6 months for serious requiring surgery. Good news is recovered knees are not typically prone to repeat injury.
So maybe we’ll be lucky and have him back before end of season.
I read in an old article from when he went to Utah State that he was prone to dislocate his kneecap and that this had happened there. I don’t think they mentioned anything about surgery, though.