Lamine Diane
Free agent
PositionPower forward / small forward
Personal information
Born (1997-11-07) November 7, 1997 (age 26)
Dakar, Senegal[1]
Listed height6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High schoolFindlay Prep (Henderson, Nevada)
CollegeCal State Northridge (2018–2020)
NBA draft2020: undrafted
Playing career2021–present
Career history
2021–2022Delaware Blue Coats
Career highlights and awards

Lamine Diane (born November 7, 1997) is a Senegalese professional basketball player who plays for the Cape Town Tigers. He played college basketball for the Cal State Northridge Matadors. He was named the Big West Player of the Year in both 2019 and 2020.

High school and college career

Diane, the son of Senegal national team player Keletigui Diane, first began playing basketball at the age of nine, though he was initially more interested in soccer.[2] He came to the United States in 2015 to play high school basketball at Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nevada. He came into his own in his second season as he tripled his scoring average from 5 to 16 points per game.[3] He committed to Cal State Northridge, redshirting the 2017–18 season to concentrate on academics and to allow a wrist injury to heal.[4] As a redshirt freshman, Diane averaged 24.8 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots per game and led the nation in field goals.[5] At the close of the season became the first player in history to win the Big West Conference's Player, Freshman and Newcomer of the Year awards in the same year.[6][7][8]

For his sophomore season, Diane was named to the preseason All-Big West team.[9] However, he was ruled academically ineligible for the first semester by the NCAA.[10] At the close of the regular season, Diane was awarded his second straight conference Player of the Year honor.[11] He averaged 25.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, two blocks and 1.7 steals per game. Following the season Diane declared for the 2020 NBA draft.[12]

Professional career

Delaware Blue Coats (2021–2022)

On December 3, 2020, Diane signed with the Philadelphia 76ers.[13] On December 7, he was waived by the 76ers.[14] He was then added to the roster of the 76ers' NBA G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, making his debut on February 11, 2021 and scoring three points, blocking two shots and pulling down two rebounds.[2] On October 25, he re-signed with Delaware.[15] On February 3, 2022, Diane was ruled out for the season with a shoulder injury.[16]

Cape Town Tigers (2023-present)

In October 2023, the Cape Town Tigers from South Africa announced they had signed Diane on their social media.[17] He was, however, not on the roster of the Tigers for the 2024 BAL qualification tournament.[18]

References

  1. ^ "NCAA : SOUS ESTIMÉ, LAMINE DIANE FAIT POURTANT MIEUX QUE RJ BARRETT ET ZION WILLIAMSON" (in French). February 11, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Soto, Andres (February 12, 2021). "Far from home: Inside Lamine Diane's pursuit of his NBA dream". The Daily Sundial. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  3. ^ Jordan, Jason (January 17, 2017). "Findlay Prep's Senegalese forward Lamine Diane starring in just his second year in the U.S." USA Today. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  4. ^ Whicker, Mark (January 7, 2019). "The numbers are there for CSUN's Lamine Diane, but there's more to come". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  5. ^ Northam, Mitchell (April 25, 2019). "5 players who could lead men's college basketball in scoring in 2020". NCAA.com. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  6. ^ Pilla, Sarah (March 14, 2019). "CSUN Has Potential NBA Draft Pick on its Roster". spectrumnews1.com. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  7. ^ Miller, Kerry (February 7, 2019). "Lamine Diane Is CBB's Unknown Freshman Putting Up No. 1 Pick Deandre Ayton Stats". Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  8. ^ "Big West Announces 2018-19 Men's Basketball All-Conference Team". Big West Conference. March 11, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  9. ^ "UC Irvine Picked To Repeat In Tight Men's Basketball Media Vote". Big West Conference. October 24, 2019. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  10. ^ "4 takeaways from Pepperdine's 94-82 win over CSUN". SBNation. November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  11. ^ "Big West Reveals 2019-20 Men's Basketball All-Conference Team" (Press release). Big West Conference. March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  12. ^ Soto, Andres (April 7, 2020). "Lamine Diane declares for NBA Draft". The Daily Sundial. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "Team Signs Lamine Diane". NBA.com. December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  14. ^ @sixers (December 7, 2020). "We have waived Lamine Diane and Justin Robinson" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. ^ Delaware Blue Coats [@blue_coats] (October 25, 2021). "Let's go Camping. #TrainingCamp" (Tweet). Retrieved December 19, 2021 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ "Lamine Diane: Done for season". CBS Sports. February 3, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  17. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  18. ^ "Cape Town Tigers at the Africa Champions Clubs ROAD TO B.A.L. 2024 2023". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved November 28, 2023.

External links

Big West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Categories