Michigan basketball: Moussa Diabate discusses NBA Draft process
Michigan Wolverines basketball sophomore forward Moussa Diabate declared for the 2022 NBA Draft after one season in Ann Arbor, and received a coveted invite to the combine. Diabate has until June 1 at 11:59 p.m. ET to withdraw his name from the draft and retain his college eligibility, with the Paris, France, native having left the door open to return when he made his declaration.
While he could come back to Michigan, Diabate is fully intending on playing his way into the draft. He doesn’t appear on mock drafts or top 60 prospect lists as it stands now, but the combine is a huge opportunity for him to boost his stock. The event will be held May 18-20 at Wintrust Arena and the Marriott Marquis in Chicago.
“Be able to get great feedback,” Diabate said in an interview with the Indiana Pacers, discussing what he wants to get out of the combine experience. “But at the end of the day, just do my best and see how far I can go, how I can compete against other players.”
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Diabate has worked out with the Pacers and San Antonio Spurs so far, and his athleticism and ceiling are intriguing to teams. He’s fairly new to basketball after growing up with a track background, and is only improving.
“Really just being able to show my energy, my defense, being able to be versatile, being able to drive to the basket,” Diabate said of what he’s hoping to show teams in the pre-draft process. “I believe I have the chance to move pretty fast with my size. And also, just show the potential with my shooting and my touch and everything. Just show pretty much everything, really.”
Diabate showed flashes last season at Michigan but was also inconsistent, typical of freshmen. He started 26 games and made 32 appearances, recording nine points and six rebounds per game. He shot 54.2 percent from the field and attempted just 14 three-pointers, with three makes.
“I would say just understanding the game, really, understanding the spacing, where the space is at and how to play with other players around me that are different,” Diabate said of how he grew at Michigan last season.
The 6-11, 210-pounder played in the frontcourt alongside two-time All-Big Ten selection Hunter Dickinson (7-1, 260), forcing him to play the power forward spot as opposed to what is perhaps his natural position, center.
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All season long, Diabate embraced instruction from Michigan head coach Juwan Howard, a former big man himself who played 19 years in the NBA.
“It’s great. It’s a blessing,” Diabate said of his time spent with Howard. “Coach Juwan, he’s a great man, and he’s always been real with me. The fact that he’s played in the NBA, been in the shoes where I’ve wanted to be at, is just a blessing, and it’s great.”
Diabate came to America in 2015, and bounced around to four different high schools in five years. If he does indeed stay in the draft, Michigan and the NBA would be stops five and six in a seven-year span.
‘It’s just made me who I am today,” Diabate said of his journey. “It’s made me a better man, definitely a better version [of myself].”
If Diabate doesn’t return to Michigan, he’d become the Wolverines’ second one-and-done prospect of this century, joining Ignas Brazdeikis in 2019. Classmate Caleb Houstan is also going through the process and in the same boat, though he declined his combine invite for undisclosed reasons.
