Mamadi Diakite

Diakite was born Jan. 21, 1997 in Conakry, Guinea. He's the son of Aboubacar Sidiki Diakite and Aminata Kaba. Diakite grew up playing soccer but later picked up basketball due to his height. He tried to draw attention from the United States through Facebook. It worked, and Diakite was contacted by Hassan Fofana, a Guinea native and former college basketball player. That led to Diakite joining a Blue Ridge School in 2014 - a boarding school in Saint George, Virginia. In addition to basketball, he participated in soccer and track and field. As a basketball player, he was a four-star recruit and Virginia's top prospect. He committed to play college ball at Virginia. He redshirted his first college basketball season, eventually debuting in 2016. He got his first start as a junior. That season, he started 22 of 38 games and averaged 7.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 21.8 minutes, and Virginia won the National Championship. He returned as a senior to start all 30 appearances and averaged 13.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 32.8 minutes. As a senior, he was named to the ACC All-Second Team and ACC All-Defensive team.