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 think this is an indication that Keatts has completed his interviews and let the players know where they stand. So I would expect more news soon.
Assuming Smith and Joiner are gone, this gives us a third scholarship to work with. The first two need to replace Smith & Joiner with a legit PG and a legit shooter.
The third scholarship will be dictated by what happens with the rest of the players over the next 10 days.
Man, I hate to lose Ebe, great teammate and role player. Always gave it his all when on the court, never hung his head. I can see him looking for a place where he’ll get more court time. He was starting to show some offensive capability to hope for him over next 2 years he’ll be rewarded with a good role somewhere. If somehow Dusan can return and assuming DJ will be back, it become more of a question of how deep we can keep the big man bench. Now wait and see what Ross, LJ, and Pass decide. I… Read more »