NC State's Mohamed Diarra motivated as he plays through Ramadan

PITTSBURGH — NC State junior forward Mohmaed Diarra’s alarm has chimed around 5:30 a.m. each morning for the past 10 days. It doesn’t matter what time his head hit the pillow the night before, Diarra rises from his slumber to begin his day. 

Diarra, a practicing Muslim, wakes up before the sun rises so he can start his morning routine during Ramadan, a month-long holiday in the religion. His morning begins with reading a few pages from the Quran before he prepares to eat breakfast — his only meal and beverage of the day before playing basketball with the Wolfpack. 

He then prays and eats his meal before going back to bed for a few more hours of sleep. It’s a routine that Diarra has become accustomed to this time of the year since he’s observed Ramadan while playing sports since he was 12-years-old. 

It’s nothing new for his body, which he said is used to it by now. Though he has done it for more than a decade, Diarra said it wasn’t always easy. As a child, he would run around all day playing soccer in his home country of France and by the end of the day it would catch up with his empty stomach.

Now, he knows how to manage his fast. Diarra spends a lot of the day relaxing, either sleeping or getting a daily massage to avoid expending unnecessary energy. He tries to save up his energy for basketball, and a week ago, he played his best during NC State’s ACC tournament run. 

Diarra averaged 9.2 points and 12 rebounds over the five-game stretch, including a tournament-high 16 boards against Duke in the ACC quarterfinals. He set the ACC record with 60 rebounds in the tournament en route to second team All-ACC Tournament honors. 

He excelled on the court, and was a key reason why NC State won the conference championship and is in Pittsburgh to play Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament. Diarra said his religion has been a driving force in his eye-popping play on the court.

“It motivates me because I play through a time like this and God gives me the strength in this moment,” Diarra said. “It’s a very special moment for me. I play the sport I love and do my religion at the same time, I’m blessed.”

But back to his early morning routine. Most college basketball players are trying to get as much sleep as possible, and the early alarm clock may not be the most appealing thing for his roommate. 

Last week, it was walk-on senior guard Alex Nunnally that Diara shared a room with at The Westin in Northwest Washington, D.C. 

Diarra joked that Nunnally didn’t like the alarm clock, but his teammate wasn’t bothered by it — especially since the Frenchman was rebounding at a high level. 

“When you’re stuck in a small rectangle with him, you’re going to be aware of everything he does,” Nunnally said. “Every time that alarm went off, I woke up. And then I remembered that he had 14 rebounds the night before, so it was probably worth it to sacrifice a few hours of sleep to keep him rolling like that.”

Nunnally has seen it firsthand, and as Diarra observes Ramadan, his fellow NC State teammates have been impressed by his ability to play at a high level without eating or drinking during the day. 

“It shows you anything is possible,” junior guard Jayden Taylor said. “A lot of people probably wouldn’t expect somebody to perform like that with an empty stomach. It just shows you how confident and how serious he takes his religion and still be out there to give us his best.”

For Nunnally, who is not roommates with Diarra this week (freshman guard Dennis Parker Jr. is), the way that the forward has been able to avoid any injury is more magnificent when he looks at it.

“I think it’s amazing that he only cramped up once,” Nunnally said. “That’s pretty incredible. It speaks to how great our strength and conditioning staff is. … It’s incredibly impressive what he’s been able to do.”

NC State has worked to accommodate Diarra’s religious observance. When NC State played before sunset early in the ACC tournament last week, he was pulled out of the game right when the sun went down for food and water on the bench. 

While Diarra has observed Ramadan, NC State coach Kevin Keatts thought it says a lot about his team’s leading rebounder. 

“It shows his maturity at a high level,” Keatts said. “At my age, I couldn’t do it. And he’s doing it. Obviously his faith is very special to him and obviously the same thing can be said about his team and teammates and he’s handling it like a champion and playing well and understanding what he has to do and my hat goes off to him for that.”

This week, Diarra will not have to play on an empty stomach to open the NCAA Tournament. The Wolfpack will tip off at 9:40 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, so Diarra will have plenty of time to eat pasta with chicken alfredo. 

It’s Diarra’s second trip to the Big Dance in as many years since he played with Missouri in the Round of 64 last season. Though it wasn’t a childhood dream of his to play in the event, ever since he arrived in the U.S. to play basketball it has been. 

Now, Diarra gets to experience it again alongside his teammates, while also observing the holy month of his religion. 

“It’s very, very special,” Diarra said. “It’s always a good thing to be in this tournament. Everybody wants to play in the NCAA Tournament in the country. For me, I’ve played two times in two years. It’s very special for me, and I’m very glad to be a part of this journey with my team.”