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’ve said it before and I’ll say it again this coaching staff can recruit their asses off. This is potentially the best recruiting staff that State has ever had based on player ratings. Now whether or not this staff is as good at evaluating talent, skillsets, and deficiencies I’m not completely sold on just yet. One thing you have to be careful of when looking at stats is the total wins. Because not only do you have to account for the strength of conference/non-conference schedules, you also have to keep in mind that we play more games now than we… Read more »
if we get bam bam, great. If we get Rawle Alkins, there will be a mass exodus of players next year. Please get some one to replace Freeman.
Great article! Go Wolfpack! We have one more recuit to sign to make the 2016 class the best ever for NC State and probably the best in the country for the 2016 class.