NC State picked up their 5th transfer today. Mohamed Diarra (6’10″/215) committed to run with the Wolfpack today while in Raleigh on an Official Visit.
Diarra originally spent his first two seasons at Garden City Community College, averaging 17.8 points and 12.6 rebounds per game in his second season. He landed at Missouri last year, after being rated as the #1 JUCO prospect in the 2022 class according to JucoRecruiting.com.
In his only season at Missouri, Diarra averaged 11.7 minutes per game in 25 games played (6 starts), averaging 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds. Because of the extra year due to Covid, Diarra has 2 years of eligibility remaining.
With news breaking today that Dusan Mahorcic entered the Transfer Portal, the Wolfpack found his replacement. NC State’s frontcourt in 2023-24 currently will be made up of D.J. Burns, Ben Middlebrooks, Mohamed Diarra and Ernest Ross.
Check out these highlights of Diarra.
There is a lot to like in Diarra’s game. He is athletic, can hit a jump shot, put the ball on the floor, can play defense on the perimeter, block shots, and is an aggressive rebounder.
What I see in these numbers is progress. Plenty of room for improvement, but a fine season to learn from and build on. The NCAA Gottfried crap is behind us, we have an excellent inbound freshman class, the best assistant coaches we’ve had, we have returning talent next season – and three scholarships (so far) to fill in next season’s starting lineup. I’m optimistic.
I hear compliants about our low assist numbers. There are 3 key things to factor in. One is that when a good part of your offense is feeding the DJ on the post and letting him back down the defender, you won’t get any assists from that, except maybe an occasional pass out of the double team to a cutter or shooter. But DJ is supposed to keep it most of the time. Second, when your point guard creates a lot of shots for himself you won’t get assists. Third, when you have a player like Smith who can be… Read more »
The numbers that I care about most right now are number of players entering portal. No new entries past few days I suppose is a good sign.