He was on the finishing end of what will go down as one of the most memorable sequences in UVa history. In the Elite Eight, with Purdue leading, 70-68, Diakite tipped back a missed free throw from Jerome. Guard Kihei Clark chased down the loose ball before firing to Diakite, who threw up a close-range jumper over the outstretched arm of 7-foot-3 Purdue center Matt Haarms. The shot was good. The buzzer sounded. Overtime.

“I don’t know. I took it, and it went in,” Diakite said after Virginia beat Purdue, 80-75. “I was happy and ready for the next five minutes. I don’t know how to talk about it.”

While Coach Tony Bennett was impressed with Diakite’s scoring, it was on the defensive end that the forward shined brightest. No longer hampered by foul trouble, as he had earlier in the season, Diakite blocked five shots in the team’s 63-62 win in the national semifinal over Auburn, then swatted another two in the team’s 85-77 overtime national championship win over Texas Tech, in addition to recording nine points and seven rebounds.

After the game, Diakite brushed off a question about his future. But playing professionally has long been a goal for Diakite, and his reasons are more poignant than most.