Cheick Diallo
| File:20150401 MCDAAG Cheick Diallo MVP award presentation alone.JPG
Diallo being honored as MVP of the 2015 McDonald's All-American Boys Game
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 13, 1996 Kayes, Mali |
| Nationality | Malian |
| Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
| Listed weight | 219 lb (99 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Our Savior New American (Centereach, New York) |
| College | Kansas (2015–2016) |
| Position | Power forward |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Cheick Diallo (born September 13, 1996) is a Malian basketball player who recently completed his college career at the University of Kansas. Diallo is a five-star recruit and was widely considered one of the top players in the Class of 2015. He was named Most Valuable Player of the 2015 McDonald's All-American Boys Game.
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Early life
Diallo was born on September 13, 1996 and brought up in Kayes, Mali. It took approximately 15 hours to drive from his hometown to Bamako, the country's capital city. He was the youngest in his family and had five brothers. Diallo arrived in the John F. Kennedy International Airport in the United States on February 14, 2012 in pursuit of a basketball career. He was not fluent in the English language at the time. He recalled the time, "It was so tough. I left my parents, my friends, my brothers, everything, just to come here. At first, I was thinking, I just want to go back. But one day I said, 'No, not yet. I want to stay and work hard here before I go back to Mali.'"[1] Diallo began playing basketball in 2010.[1]
High school career
Through its international program, Diallo began attending Our Savior New American School in Centereach, New York. He played with Chris Obekpa in his freshman season and, at first, was dominated by the fellow African big man. Diallo said, "I didn't know what I was doing. I couldn't make a point. [Obekpa] blocked me every time."[1] In later seasons, he became more effective for his team and attracted attention through his shot-blocking, rebounding, and versatility. Diallo was invited to the NBPA Top 100 camp in 2013 and went on to become its first MVP from Africa.[1][2]
College career
After finishing high school, Diallo had committed to playing for the University of Kansas. However, before the regular season began, Diallo was involved with some controversy regarding the NCAA with his grade status. As a result of that, Diallo was forced to accept a suspension from play until his situation was resolved in December 2015. He would make his college debut on December 7, 2015 against Loyola Maryland with 13 points and 3 blocks in a blowout victory against them.
Professional career
On April 2016, Diallo was one out of 162 named as underclassmen declaring for the 2016 NBA Draft. While he held a chance of returning to Kansas earlier on due to a new NBA draft rule, and despite some meager averages with limited playing time during his sole season with the Jayhawks, Diallo would sign an agent on May 13, 2016 after some overwhelmingly positive assurances about his performance in the 2016 NBA Draft Combine.[3]
References
External links
- Pages with broken file links
- 1996 births
- Living people
- Basketball players from New York
- Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players
- Malian basketball players
- McDonald's High School All-Americans
- Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
- People from Centereach, New York
- People from Kayes
- Power forwards (basketball)
