Welcome to the Pack: NC State transfer has first career double-double in season opener
Much of the N.C. State Wolfpack’s men’s basketball roster is new this season after an offseason of turnover — to transfer, to the NBA, to graduation.
Head coach Kevin Keatts insisted during the preseason that anyone on the roster now could have a big night. In game 1, the Frenchman stepped up.
N.C. State (1-0) picked up its first win of the season Monday in a 72-55 victory over The Citadel (0-1). Junior Mohamed Diarra played a key role.
The transfer from Missouri contributed 10 points and 14 rebounds, his first career double-double, including six points from long range. He added an assist and three blocks.
“He wants to shoot that thing. That’s what he does in practice. He works on that shot, so we tell him to shoot it,” guard DJ Horne said. “Congrats to my boy. A double-double is a double-double, no matter who it’s against.”
There’s an ongoing joke in the locker room that Diarra is a shooting guard.
“I am,” he said after the game, with a big smile.
Diarra said he worked on his shooting this summer, so he would have confidence in those situations and take a good shot.
Keatts told his players that if they play hard, the ball will find them. That was especially true for Diarra and grad student Michael O’Connell. The two combined to shoot 6-for-11 from outside and helped with some 3-point assists.
“I ran one play for Mo, in which he knocked down a three, but he was very efficient,” Keatts said. “His first career double double. I thought he did a really good job.”
Keatts challenged Diarra at halftime, encouraging him to double his seven first-half rebounds and pull down 14. It doesn’t always work like that, Keatts said, but this time, it did.
Guard Casey Morsell called Diarra a “spark.” He can hit shots from deep or record an offensive board and putback. Diarra did that following one of Morsell’s misses in the first half.
Originally from a suburb of Paris, Diarra attended Redemption Academy in New York and then made his way to Garden City Community College. The junior spent one season at Mizzou, where he averaged just 3.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
The first-year Wolfpack forward said last season was difficult, and N.C. State is giving him a chance to show people what he can do. Diarra said he is playing with rage — a chip on his shoulder.
Monday, Diarra led the team with a defensive rating of 51.2, the number of points given up per 100 possessions, and 12 stops. Despite missing two 3-point attempts, he contributed a true shooting percentage of 50% and earned an offensive rating of 61.4 He hopes to see those numbers continue to climb.
“I’m proud of me, because that’s who I am,” Diarra said. “I can get 14 rebounds every night and make my shot. If I’m confident in defense and rebounds, the offense is gonna come.”
