2024 NCAA Basketball Tournament Brackets
GLENDALE, Ariz. – When Mouhamed Dioubate was ready to announce his college choice, Hassan Diarra made it a point to be there at Putnam Science Academy.
“That’s my little brother, right there,” Diarra said. “To see him grow into the player he is, the person he is, I’m so happy.”
Never, though, did they think they would run into each other again in the Final Four. Dioubate, a freshman developing his game and playing off the bench for Alabama, will face Diarra, a senior who has been playing an impact role role throughout this NCAA Tournament for UConn, in the national semifinal Saturday at 8:49 p.m.
“That’s my guy, so it meant a lot to me for him to be there,” Dioubate said.
Like the three Diarra brothers, Mamadou, Hassan and Cherif, Dioubate grew up in Queens playing basketball at Lincoln Park and for Rob Diaz with the PSA Cardinals in AAU ball. Then all three gravitated to the Northeast corner of Connecticut to play for Tom Espinosa at Putnam Science. Now, “Hass” and “Mo” bring what UConn coach Dan Hurley likes to call “New York tough” to the Final Four.
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“When Mo (Dioubate) committed in (August 2022), Hassan came down from UConn to be at his commitment, when he chose Alabama, which is pretty cool,” Espinosa said. “Now they’re facing each other in the Final Four. They’re close family, same mentor, grew up in the same neighborhood, all that. So it’s pretty cool to see.”
Dioubate, 6 feet 7, is averaging 7.8 minutes, 3.0 points 2.4 rebounds, including nine points and five rebounds in 13 minutes in the Crimson Tide’s second-round victory over Grand Canyon.
“I told him to find a place with a family environment where he’d develop,” said Hassan Diarra, who has known him since seventh grade. “I walked past him (Friday) and I just smiled, and he smiled back. Tomorrow, I’m going to give him a big hug. … After the game.”
Dioubate was a New England prep school player of the year at Putnam Science, and helped win a national prep championship and had numerous Power Five Conference offers.
“He’s an undersized power forward and a lefty,” Espinosa said. “An outstanding rebounder. He’s a monster. A tough, tough four-man, kind of a Dennis Rodman type.”
While Dioubate is getting his first experience, Diarra, who transferred from Texas A&M to UConn, is playing in his second Final Four, two wins from a second championship ring. The sixth man of the year in the Big East, Diarra has averaged 20.8 minutes throughout this tournament, and each time he has entered, with the Huskies sagging just a bit, he has changed the energy of the game.
“I played street ball with him in New York City, so I got to know his game pretty well,” Dioubate said. “He’s got a ‘wiggle’ to his game, and I’m expected him to do what he does. Play defense, catch and shoot shots, and we’re going to try to do our best to limit those things for him.”
Diarra is a big brother to Dioubate and to his own younger brother, Cherif, who plays at Southern Connecticut, but he could play a big-brother role for the UConn program if he chooses to play his fifth year of eligibility in Storrs.
“I’ll have to meet with Coach after the season, see where his mind as at and where my mind is at and go from there,” Diarra said.
Cam Spencer ➡️ Hassan Diarra 😮💨#MarchMadness @UConnMBB pic.twitter.com/JltbhCyLUt
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 30, 2024
The Huskies, win or lose here in Phoenix, could lose all five starters either to expiration of eligibility or early entry to the pros. They have freshman they hope will assume larger roles next year, and promising freshmen coming in, including point guard Ahmad Nowell.
Hurley envisions Diarra as a veteran “glue guy,” as the program transitions, a link to maintain the culture that has been established by the 2023 champs and the 2024 potential champs.
“You look at everyone in the organization and try to project out,” Hurley said. “We’re excited about Ahmad coming in and in a perfect world, your freshman can take a big jump and become starters and big-time players and you’re hoping that Hassan, as a fifth-year senior, kind of a super senior, would have the ability to give us that veteran point guard. That would be great for Ahmad, who is going to be great.”
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But before any talk of running it back, going for a personal three-peat, Diarra has a deal to close this weekend and, as college basketball often dictates, this family in the way. Hurley and Alabama coach Nate Oats have that kind of relationship, and so it is with Hassan Diarra and Mouhamed Dioubate, Hass and Mo. Like brothers, but all business right now.
“I’ve coached a lot of tough kids,” Espinosa said. “But both those guys, they’re up at the top of that list. The environment you grow up in, the coaches you play for, both of them are tough, tough kids. They’re leaders, but you don’t mess with those guys. They’re different. Two of the best kids we’ve ever had.”
