Mohamed Diarra Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Notes: Omier, Roach, Shulga, Diarra, Warrick, More

May 22nd, 2024 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

After spending their senior years at Miami and Duke, respectively, forward Norchad Omier and guard Jeremy Roach entered the 2024 NBA draft pool this spring. However, as Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets, both Omier and Roach have opted to withdraw from the draft and take advantage of their extra year of NCAA eligibility by playing at Baylor as “super-seniors” in 2024/25.

Omier, who began his college career at Arkansas State, has averaged a double-double in each of his four seasons, including putting up 17.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game for the Hurricanes last season. A Miami Herald report last month stated that Omier had hired an agent and was expected to go pro, but his representative (Adam Godes) is NCAA-certified, which allowed the forward to test the waters and remove his name from the draft without forgoing his final year of college eligibility.

Roach, meanwhile, enjoyed the best season of his college career in 2023/24, averaging 14.0 PPG, 3.3 APG, and 2.5 RPG on .468/.429/.844 shooting in 35 games (32.7 MPG) for the Blue Devils.

Here’s more on the 2024 draft:

Guard Max Shulga, who spent his senior season at VCU in 2023/24, is withdrawing from the draft and will return to the Rams rather than transferring, despite reports that he had committed to Villanova, according to Rothstein (Twitter link). Shulga, VCU’s leading scorer with 14.0 PPG last season, will be automatically draft-eligible in 2025.
North Carolina State forward Mohamed Diarra will remain in the 2024 draft and go pro, a source tells Rothstein (Twitter link). That was the expectation for Diarra, who didn’t say anything about maintaining his college eligibility when he announced last month that he was entering the draft.
Marques Warrick, a four-time All-Horizon guard at Northern Kentucky, is pulling out of the draft and transferring to Missouri for his final college season, tweets Rothstein.
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo (Insider link) have published their post-combine mock draft, with Alexandre Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher in the top two spots, followed by Kentucky teammates Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Givony and Woo have former No. 1 prospect Ron Holland slipping to 11th overall and going to the Bulls.
Former Illinois big man Coleman Hawkins will work out for the Warriors on Thursday and the Kings on Friday, according to Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento (Twitter link).

Draft Notes: PIT Standouts, Dates, Ajinca, Diarra, Watkins

April 25th, 2024 at 4:00pm CST by Rory Maher

The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament wrapped up last week. The event, which showcases college seniors trying to boost their stock in front of NBA teams, saw two participants — Hunter Tyson and Toumani Camara — get drafted last year, notes Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Insider link).

Washington State forward/center Isaac Jones was “the most productive player” at the 2024 PIT, Givony writes, and he’ll likely be invited to next month’s draft combine in Chicago as a result. The 23-year-old big man was a first-team All-Pac-12 member for the Cougars in 2023/24 and could be a second-round pick, Givony adds.

Morehead State forward Riley Minix and Illiniois guard Marcus Domask were among the other standouts from the tournament, according to Givony.

Here’s more on the upcoming draft:

In the same story, Givony highlights several upcoming draft-related dates and deadlines to monitor, including Saturday’s early-entrant deadline.
French wing Melvin Ajinca, who is ranked No. 42 on ESPN’s big board, is entering the 2024 NBA Draft, agent Bouna Ndiaye told Givony (Twitter link). The 19-year-old has been playing professionally for Saint-Quentin in France’s top basketball league, LNB Pro A. Givony refers to Ajinca as a possible first-rounder.
North Carolina State senior forward Mohamed Diarra, who averaged 6.3 PPG, 7.8 RPG and 1.0 BPG in 40 games this past season for the Wolfpack (22.1 MPG), announced on Twitter that he’s entering the draft. Another French player, Diarra didn’t say anything about maintaining his college eligibility, so we’re assuming he’s going pro.
Wing Jamir Watkins, who is ranked No. 81 on ESPN’s board, is also entering the draft (Instagram link). After spending his first two college seasons at VCU, Watkins transferred to Florida State for his junior campaign and averaged 15.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.8 APG and 1.9 SPG on .457/.344/.795 shooting in 33 games for the Seminoles (28.1 MPG). As with Diarra, Watkins didn’t say anything about maintaining his remaining eligibility.