Law Murray with The Athletic confirmed that Diabate signed a one-year deal and is on a two-way contract with the Clippers. What this means is that Diabate can play with the LA Clippers and their G-League affiliate the Ontario Clippers. The former Wolverine is allowed to play in 50 of the 82 games that Los Angeles plays under a two-way contract.
Diabate was selected with the 43rd pick in the 2022 NBA draft by Los Angeles after he plated one season in Ann Arbor. During his lone season with Michigan, the former five-star averaged nine points, six rebounds, and shot 54% from the field.
During the Las Vegas NBA Summer League, Diabate played in two games for the Clippers and he averaged 9.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and shot 70% from the field.
The Wolverines had their second player come off the board in the 2022 NBA draft on Thursday night after Moussa Diabate was selected in the second round by the Los Angeles Clippers with the 43rd pick..
The 6-foot-10 big man was a five-star recruit coming out of IMG Academy in Bradenton (Florida) out of the class of 2021. Diabate chose Michigan over Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky, and Memphis among others. 247Sports composite ranked Diabate as the 17th best player in his class.
Diabate started his Michigan career coming off the bench but soon became a staple in the starting lineup next to Hunter Dickinson. Diabate struggled to stay out of foul trouble and had some 3-point shooting woes, but the potential is thru the roof. Diabate possesses a long wing span that NBA teams were extremely excited about, and during his only season in Ann Arbor, the maize and blue were one of the best rebounding teams with the big men down low.
Diabate played 25 minutes-per-game and he averaged nine points and six rebounds-per-game at Michigan. His play earned him being voted into the Big Ten All-Freshman team. When Diabate decided to forgo his final three years of collegiate eligibility, it came with mixed reviews, but the former five-star will look to continue to develop his game at the next level.
Since he was a second-round selection, like his former teammate Caleb Houstan, his contract will not be guaranteed. Diabate may need to develop his game — especially his 3-point shooting — in the G-League before seeing valuable minutes in the NBA.
Hope they both go to the right place on Thursday! #GoBlue
Michigan basketball had a star-studded 2021 class which was headlined by two five-star freshmen: Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate. When Juwan Howard signed them, it propelled the Wolverines to have the third-ranked class according to 247Sports composite.
Both saw just one season in Ann Arbor before they decided to forgo their three remaining seasons of eligibility to enter into the 2022 NBA draft — which is Thursday, June 23.
After their first year with the Wolverines, Houstan averaged 10 points-per-game, four rebounds-per-game, and shot 35% from 3. The big man, Diabate, averaged nine points-per-game, six rebounds-per-game, and shot 54% from the field.
After going thru the draft process, and talking with scouts, family, friends, and coaches they felt they were ready for the NBA draft. Depending on the sites you visit, or people you may listen to, everyone has their own opinion on if the former Wolverines are ready to make the jump after just one collegiate season.
Here are a few sites that have their final predictions out on where Houstan and Diabate will go — or if they will go at all.
We’re starting to get a better idea of what the roster will look like for Michigan basketball once the 2022-23 season rolls around.
The Wolverines do get back star center Hunter Dickinson, who returns for his third season with the program, but it lost point guard Frankie Collins to Arizona State via the transfer portal, while gaining Princeton guard Jaelin Llewellyn by the same means.
The big question has been: what will the two five stars from the 2021 class do?
Both Moussa Diabate and Caleb Houstan entered the NBA draft, but neither hired an agent, thus either could return to the program, if they so desired. While we haven’t heard about Houstan’s decision as of yet — though he is mocked as a potential first-rounder — we finally know what Diabate is going to do.
According to Stadium’s Jeff Goodman, Diabate is departing the program and will remain in the NBA draft, effectively ending his Michigan basketball career.
Michigan’s Moussa Diabate will remain in the NBA Draft, he told @Stadium
Diabate had three more years of intercollegiate eligibility he’s leaving on the table. With him gone, it opens the door for some others to step up into a starting role, such as Jace Howard, Terrance Williams, or even incoming freshman Tarris Reed.
Do you think Michigan basketball gets either Houstan or Diabate back for next year?
June 1 is the key date for Michigan basketball.
The Wolverines return Hunter Dickinson after he decided to not entertain the NBA draft after his sophomore season, and the Wolverines gained Princeton guard Jaelin Llewellyn out of the transfer portal. The maize and blue also have some possible key contributors coming in as freshmen like Jett Howard, Tarris Reed, and Dug McDaniel.
But what could really propel the Wolverines for the upcoming basketball season would be the return of Moussa Diabate and Caleb Houstan. Both Diabate and Houstan entered the NBA draft while maintaining their eligibility, and they have until June 1 to either stay in the draft or come back to Michigan.
Returning both five-star recruits would be fantastic news, but if Michigan could get one of them back then that would be a major win for the Wolverines entering next season.
There is speculation that Houstan has been guaranteed by a team that he will be selected in round one, and Diabate had a really good draft combine, so that makes Michigan fans feel uneasy if they see either return to the Wolverines.
We are going to dig into the latest NBA mock drafts and see where the draft experts may see Houstan or Diabate going in the 2022 NBA draft.
We now know the status of two of three Michigan basketball players who could potentially depart the program this offseason.
Kind of.
On Sunday, the Wolverines got something of a positive surprise when star center Hunter Dickinson took to social media to express that he will be returning for his junior season — something that seemed unfathomable a year ago, barring complete collapse on the court, production-wise (which, of course, didn’t happen). But the question has remained: what would Moussa Diabate and Caleb Houstan do?
The deadline to enter the NBA draft has since come and gone, but neither first-year player expressed on their own social media accounts what they would do. But on Monday, Michigan basketball released Diabate’s choice.
In a graphic sharing his plans, Diabate has opted to enter the NBA draft, but he is reportedly doing so with the option to return to the maize and blue.
— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) April 25, 2022
For a player like Diabate who showed flashes, this is the right move, as he can get crucial feedback — as Dickinson did a year ago — and then make an informed decision as to what he plans to do.
Michigan only trailed by two points at halftime to North Carolina in the annual ACC/Big Ten matchup.
But the Wolverines ended up losing to the Tar Heels, 72-51.
The maize and blue looked to be in a dog fight in the first half. After starting the game with six turnovers, the Michigan offense started to take care of the basketball, and Moussa Diabate was starting to take the game over. Michigan was doing a good job at shutting the Tar Heels down in the paint, but then the first half ended — too quickly apparently.
Michigan came out of the locker room lifeless and North Carolina ran away with the game. Hunter Dickinson got four fouls before there were two full minutes gone in the second half, and the Wolverines went down the drain.
Michigan now has three losses, and this team looks to be reeling. The Wolverines have a lot of work to do, and coach Juwan Howard has his work cut out for himself.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It didn’t take very long into their college debuts to see why Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate, Michigan basketball’s two five-star signees, are special.
Houstan had 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal, whereas Diabate had 7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Both immediately looked at home, with Houstan in the starting lineup and Diabate coming into the game early off the bench.
It was no surprise to head coach Juwan Howard that either were able to come in and make an early impact, given what he had seen from each in the lead-up to their first official game.
On Diabate’s performance in the first half, he said: “Love it, love it. Doesn’t surprise me at all, because that’s the kind of player he is. He brings energy, effort, toughness.”
“Caleb, man — he’s shown so much poise as a young freshman,” Howard later said about Houstan. “Think about it: this guy re-classed up. So he’s supposed to be a senior in high school at Montverde. But he decided to make the jump. With his maturity and how he competes out there on the floor, you just think he’s been around for a very long time. He’s always, like Terrance, always listening, asking questions, want to learn, want to get better. I trust that he’s always gonna make the right play. Every player make mistakes. One thing about Caleb, this is a game of growth. It’s hard when you have foul trouble and you’re playing so well and now you have to sit for a while and lose your rhythm. But, in the start of the second half, I was trying to get him to lean up down the floor, get him loose, run him a few sets, get him more comfortable and get back to the flow he had in the first half. And he came out and he made a big 3 for us during that run after Terrance made his 3.”
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But it wasn’t just Howard singing their praises. Their sophomore teammates also had a lot of positives about the two after the game.
It’s hard to pick which one was more dynamic in their debuts, so forward Terrance Williams II spoke about both, and what he liked about each in their first time out.
“I’m gonna start with Mouss — Mouss came in with a lot of energy. The crowd was rocking with him,” Williams said. “The crowd (was going): ‘Mouss!’ — he plays on the offensive and defensive end. I feel like the fans love it, we love it. The shot-blocking he has, attacking the rim, rebounding, contesting the shots that don’t show up in the stat book — a lot of contests on No. 34 — he made him miss a lot. There was a lot of energy, the crowd’s gonna love him, we love him for that.
“Caleb came in, started hot. He got into foul trouble, but we’re not even worried about that, to be honest. He played his game. He still had a great game. He made a big shot down the stretch that we needed. So, both of them played really well in my opinion as freshmen, and I feel like it will continue.”
Freshman big Moussa Diabate. Photo: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Hunter Dickinson, of course, got to pair up more specifically with Diabate when, instead of Diabate playing the five, Howard inserted a lineup that saw him at the four with Dickinson remaining at the five.
Dickinson says that Diabate has a lot to his game that makes it particularly enjoyable when the two are paired up.
“Yeah, it’s fun! Just two really big guys out there,” Dickinson said. “He’s really athletic, he’s able to cover a lot of ground and he’s able to make up for a lot of mistakes for the other four players on defense. And offensively, he attracts so much attention. When he has the ball, sneaks around and moves freely out there. Playing with him, he’s another high IQ guy, so definitely love playing with him offensively and defensively.”
Considering Dickinson’s history of playing big-time ball in the DMV, has he seen another big that’s been able to come in and do the types of things that Diabate does?
“No, he’s such a freak of nature athletically,” Dickinson said. “Like I said, he’s got so much potential. I don’t think he knows how much potential he has so far. Us, we’re trying to show him what he can do and how good he can be. Sky’s the limit for him and he’s gonna keep getting better as the season progresses.”
It’s been nearly 20 years, but Michigan basketball now has, not one, but three McDonald’s all-americans.
[jwplayer 7Yx6yIKY-XNcErKyb]
It’s been a long time coming for Michigan basketball in regards to bringing in a player deemed the elite of the elite. Not only has that drought ended on Tuesday, but it did so triple-fold.
The last time Michigan basketball brought in a McDonald’s all-american, it was 2002, when Daniel Horton was set to be a Wolverine. In 2020, it seemed as if the drought was ending, with five-star Isaiah Todd, then a commit, making the cut. However, Todd backed off his commitment in the spring and ultimately signed on to play in the NBA G-League.
But it was announced on Tuesday that Michigan leads all schools with three signees making the team: Montverde (FL) Academy five-star Caleb Houstan, Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy five-star Moussa Diabate and Grand Rapids (MI) Christian four-star Kobe Bufkin.
The three comprise half of Michigan basketball’s six-man class, rated by 247Sports as the best in the nation. All six of the players committed to Michigan have signed their national letter of intent and will be on campus officially later this summer.
In an unexpected move, Michigan basketball received its sixth pledge in 2021, adding five-star PF Moussa Diabaté from IMG Academy.
[jwplayer 29FpEPdC-XNcErKyb]
Well, this one was unexpected.
While all eyes were on players such as five-star Chet Holmgren out of Minnesota, Michigan basketball got an unexpected commitment on Monday from another five-star prospect out of Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy.
Rated No. 20 in the nation, 6-foot-10, 225-pound power forward Moussa Diabaté wasn’t expected to join the Wolverines 2021 class — though he had no 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions — but he reportedly pulled the trigger to join Juwan Howard & Co., adding to Michigan’s already top-ranked recruiting class this cycle.
Diabaté is the sixth pledge to the 2021 class, joining fellow five-star Caleb Houstan, four-stars Frankie Collins, Kobe Bufkin and Isaiah Barnes and three-star Will Tschetter as commitments.
Early Signing Day for basketball begins on Nov. 11 and will run for a week until Nov. 18. It’s unknown whether or not Diabaté will fully end his process by signing with the Wolverines at that time.
