Kansas basketball head coach Bill Self, who basically doubles as the general manger, president of basketball operations, CEO, guru, etc. of the program, has told the Lawrence Journal-World’s Gary Bedore on multiple occasions he didn’t expect KU big man Cheick Diallo to return and play for the Jayhawks next season.
It didn’t matter that the freshman who measured 6-foot-9 in shoes (because that’s the kind of thing you find out at the combine; Diallo is 6-7.5 without shoes) hadn’t signed with an agent, leaving open the possibility of testing the pre-draft process and returning to Kansas if he so desired.
Self figured all along Diallo would remain in the draft. The past couple of days in Chicago, the Mali native who only played 7.5 minutes a game at KU, producing 3.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.9 blocks, proved Self, as usual, knew what he was talking about.
In Thursday’s combine scrimmage, Diallo went for 18 points, made 7 of his 10 field goals, grabbed 4 rebounds and swatted 4 shots.
The undersized big man, who makes up for it with his 7-4.5 wingspan and willingness to play harder than his opponents, followed that up in Friday’s scrimmage by scoring 9 points, shooting 4-for-8, snagging 10 boards and blocking 2 shots.
One NBA exec on who helped himself most here: Cheick Diallo.
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) May 13, 2016
Some standouts from first game of the #NBACombine: Robert Carter, Georges Niang, Kay Felder, Cheick Diallo, Gary Payton II, Joel Bolomboy.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 12, 2016
Standouts from Game 3 of the NBA Combine: Michael Gbinije, Kay Felder, Cheick Diallo, Chinanu Onuaku, Isaiah Miles. Last game underway now.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 13, 2016
Although Diallo gave some KU fans hope by saying Friday in an on-air interview with ESPN’s Andy Katz he was still thinking about whether to hire an agent and turn pro, ESPN’s Jeff Goodman soon after reported Diallo told him he would stay in the draft.
Kansas big man Cheick Diallo told ESPN he is signing with agent, leaving college after one season: https://t.co/rrZQxYdKto
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) May 13, 2016
Again, Self never thought Diallo would return, so this didn’t come as a particularly earth-shattering development — even if the timing of ESPN’s reports came across as puzzling.
During ESPN’s coverage of the combine, analyst Jay Bilas made it clear he doesn’t think Diallo is ready to play in the NBA next season. But Bilas also thinks Diallo would be a “solid first-round draft pick.”
That’s the thing about Diallo. No NBA coach or scout watches him play and thinks, We can plug him right into our rotation. They like Diallo’s energy, wingspan and potential to improve in the years to come.
NBA decision-makers don’t care what Diallo did or didn’t do at Kansas. They only care about what kind of player they think he can become.
And that’s why Self wisely saw this coming from miles away.
