Earlier this week reports surfaced stating 2015 Syracuse basketball commit Moustapha Diagne planned to enroll in a two year school instead of coming to play for the Orange. SU Athletics confirmed this bombshell with a statement of its own.
That statement provided no reason for why this change in schools is taking place however. No one outside of the Syracuse basketball coaching staff and Diagne’s inner circle know why the big man won’t be playing at the Carrier Dome this upcoming season.
Usually poor grades or an issue with high school classes trigger a move like this. This most likely is not what happened to Diagne because it looks like he won’t ever play for the Orange. Syracuse big man Chino Obokoh had to sit out his freshman season on the Hill because of a transcript issue. That problem did not mean he was unable to ever lace up for SU though. He made his Syracuse debut a year later.
Failing to qualify academically would usually mean Diagne could try to come to the Hill in a year (or sit out for one like Obokoh did), for some reason Diagne’s no longer coming at all.
If Diagne had violated a Syracuse team rule or committed an NCAA violation that led to him not attending Syracuse then that would most likely have been included in the statement from SU Athletics.
Usually when a player does something of that nature, the public is given a reason why that player will no longer be on the team. Take what happened with Ashton Broyld earlier this summer as an example. It doesn’t seem like Diagne made a major mistake that led to him enrolling at a “two year school” instead of Syracuse. Just like an issue with grades however, a violation could still be a possibility as to why this change in schools occurred; we just don’t know.
Maybe this decision has less to do with Diagne and more to do with Syracuse. Depending on the result of an appeal with the NCAA, the Orange might only have ten scholarships at its disposal for this season instead of the usual 13. Without Diagne, Syracuse makes that ten scholarship cut.
The loss of Diagne also guarantees that 2016 point guard commit Tyus Battle will have a scholarship when he arrives on the Hill. Sometimes recruiting isn’t fair, as we’ve seen with Syracuse football, the scholarship numbers game can put athletes in precarious positions.
Whatever the issue is that caused Diagne’s school change, the probability is high that the forward got a raw deal from either the NCAA or Syracuse. Hopefully in the future we’ll know the exact reason for this bizarre course of action.
Posted: Connor Morrissette
