Mark Pope and the Kentucky men’s basketball coaching staff managed to land their third transfer commitment of the offseason, coming from an in-conference rival. Mouhamed Dioubate, a 6’7” junior from Queens, New York, just announced his decision to transfer to the University of Kentucky.
Dioubate spent his first two seasons playing under Nate Oats at Alabama. He was a key part of the Crimson Tide’s 2024 Final Four run in the NCAA Tournament, and their Elite Eight run this past season. He averaged 16 minutes a game this year, totaling in 7.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. Mouhamed did this all while averaging nearly 62% shooting from the field, as well as, 46% shooting from behind the three point mark.
In my opinion, if all of players from last season that have remaining eligibility decide to return, Kentucky will likely only add one or two more portal recruits to this class. This would include Otega Oweh, Collin Chandler, Travis Perry, Trent Noah and Brandon Garrison on next year’s team, along with Malachi Moreno, Jasper Johnson and Acaden Lewis, putting Kentucky at 11 total scholarships with their offseason portal additions thus far.
Mouhamed Dioubate will join Kam Williams (Tulane) and Jaland Lowe (Pittsburgh) on becoming new faces to the Wildcat program this spring. With six seniors leaving this offseason in Amari Williams, Lamont Butler, Koby Brea, Andrew Carr, Jaxson Robinson, and Ansley Almonor, Kentucky had a lot of replacing to do. They aren’t done yet, but they’re making a dent in it.
Two other positions to look at from the portal would be a consistent shooter and a big man. For the first one, a Koby Brea type addition that can score at a high rate would be huge, and then also another big to go along with Brandon Garrison so that Malachi Moreno will have time to learn under them as he transitions to college basketball.
With that being said, this is a major get from the portal, adding experience, strength, and success in a player to the program who just spent the last two seasons battling through the Southeastern Conference.
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