It was another good day for UConn recruiting, as Putnam Science Academy big man and rising junior Mamadou Diarra announced today that he will be playing his college basketball in Storrs. Diarra has a mix of 3- and 4-star rankings from various recruiting outlets, but his name had picked up steam recently as he started receiving more offers – a count up to 25, including several from P5 schools, before he closed his recruitment earlier this month.
Diarra is a lanky 6-9 big man who can play both center and power forward, and looks to use his explosive leaping ability to get himself a lot of easy rebounds and putbacks. He appears to have a similar frame and skill set to former UConn big man Josh Boone, and as he prepares to move to Woodstock Academy this season for a prep year, also appears set for a similar rise up the recruiting ranks.
This is the third major recruiting coup for Ollie this spring season, as he landed grad transfers Shonn Miller of Cornell and Sterling Gibbs of Seton Hall, the former late last month and the latter just last week. After a rough recruiting season that saw the Huskies miss out on a number of top targets like Diamond Stone and Derrick Jones, Ollie appears to have worked out a number of the kinks. Hopefully this momentum can continue through the offseason with other 2016 prospects like Alterique Gilbert and Mario Kegler, as well as 2016 transfer targets such as former VCU forward Terry Larrier and former Providence center Paschal Chuckwu.
[…] marks the third addition to the 2016-2017 roster, joining forward Mamadou Diarra and VCU transfer Terry Larrier. UConn will lose at least five scholarship players next offseason […]