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.
You look at the stats in this one and a lot of things went our way. More shots, more made 3PT shots, more rebounds, more assists, more steals, more blocks. If that kid who’s never made a 3PT shot doesn’t make 2, at the end of the shot clock no less, we win.
It felt like one of those games where the home team was just destined to win. All of the little things kept going their way.
Hope that happens for us for the next 3 games.
Tough loss. Thought we had moments where we’d creep ahead just a little and just enough to sneak out with a win, but Syracuse had an answer for everything. Morsell had an uncharacteristic game but it’s tough to play against Syracuse’s Zone. I liked what I saw out of Clark. Both Smith and Joiner needed just a little more in scoring percentage and I think we could have had a slim, slim, victory (I say slim because I think Syracuse would have answered back). I really do think if Smith maybe takes a few steps up on a couple of… Read more »
Tough game. Too many turnovers. Only shot 5 FTs? Odd in a game where refs seem to be calling the slightest contact foul.
Didn’t think about the turnover factor. I do think taking a bad shot is about as bad as turning the ball over. And while we had good over all shot selection, I still feel Smith needs to tighten stuff up around how and when he shoots. Others too. Points where we forced a turnover, then ran it down the court and jacked up a three. While that’s great if it works, it’s essentially and empty play/turnover when it doesn’t work and a near cardinal sin when a long bounce off a missed trifecta falls into the hands of a player… Read more »