2016 PF Committing Friday

Power forward Mamadou Diarra out of NY has a final two of UConn and VCU. The big man has gone from relatively unknown to a four star recruit within the past year. This summer he’s had plenty of good showings and by the end of the summer he should be on every national recruiting list. I had the chance to catch up with him about his recruitment this past weekend.

Diarra has been quoted as saying UConn is his, “Dream school,” and he certainly has great things to say about UConn. “UConn has always been a school that I watched and liked. The campus is really nice and the location is really good because it isn’t to far, but isn’t to close to New York,” he said. Diarra took an unofficial visit to UConn on April 29th and also attended a game this past season. Coach Ollie and his assistants have already watched multiple games of his this summer and were at many of his high school games and practices. He’s also high school and AAU teammates with 2017 recruit Hamidou Diallo.

Mamadou also talked about his visit to Storrs last month. “I got to see most of the campus and all the facilities that the basketball team uses. I really liked the new practice facility and that they give each player their own key. That means you can go to the gym as much as you want,” he explained. Diarra is the latest recruit that has raved about the new UConn Basketball Champions Center after seeing it on their visits.

The big man also went into depth about where his recruitment is heading and what it will take for either UConn or VCU to get him. “It all comes down to which program I fit in better and which place is going to get the best out of me. I think I have a really good relationship with coach Ollie and his staff. That is one of the reasons I picked them as one of my top two schools,” Diarra stated. “I’ll probably commit by the end of this month. I’m not to sure about future visits right now,” he continued.

Whichever school gets Diarra will be getting a big man that’s going to bring a lot of energy, hustle plays, and rebounding to the court. This past weekend Corey Evans of NY2LA Sports had these tweets about Diarra while watching him play, ” Mamadou Diarra is a rim presence! Big time shot alterer and rebounder. Motor never turns off. Rums rim to rim. Producer.” “A lot of people missed out on Mamadou Diarra. Kid is going to have a great 4 year college career with ample rebounds and easy buckets.” “Mamadou Diarra’s back at it. Floats above the rim for every put back chance. One of the hardest dudes to box out due to motor and strength.”

Mamadou Diarra will commit on Friday at 11:30am. He has already visited both schools but it wouldn’t be surprising if he visits the school he will commit to one more time just to be certain on his decision. UConn has a great chance to lock him down and move onto others in his class to get them to do the same.

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