6'9" athletic hybrid-forward Mamoudou Diarra committed to the Washington Huskies today. The Mali native becomes the Huskies fourth commitment in the class of 2017 today, where he joins skilled 6'10" top-ranked rising senior Michael Porter, Jr. of Washington, 6'5" four-star wing Jaylen Nowell, and 6'3" passing dynamo Blake Harris of North Carolina. Diarra, whose addition now takes the Huskies above Auburn for the top class in 2017, chose Washington over Cincinnati, Marquette, Kansas State, Missouri, Long Beach State, and Colorado.

Mamoudou Diarra, who plays at St. Louis Christian, said he chose the Huskies after "watching the Huskies this past season and having a good relationship with Coach Chillious." Diarra said that Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar message has been, "they're gonna make me better and use my strength to help me get to the next level."

Gateway Basketball Club coach Scott Schroepfer said, "I think he'll fit in well with the Huskies for a few reasons. I know Coach Romar from when he was in St. Louis. Mamoudou will relate well to his coaching style. They play a similar style of basketball as we do. We like to get out in transition, create mismatches, and run a lot of similar sets to what they do at Washington. I think he'll fit in real easy."

With all of the talent that the Huskies are bringing in, Mamoudou Diarra, who played for the Gateway on the Adidas Gauntlet circuit, plans on bringing the Huskies "a different dimension. I can play four different spots on the court." Coach Scott Schroepfer added, "His strengths are his motor and his versatility. He can play the wing. He played the three and the four for us. He's got great lateral quickness, a 7'2" wingspan, and he's athletic. His areas for improvement are his perimeter shooting, which is getting better. His passing is getting better. His defensive motor has gone from a two to a twelve. The lights come on and he's just ready to play both ends of the floor."

Diarra is excited to be playing in a fast-paced offense alongside fellow incoming freshman Michael Porter. "I've known Michael Porter. I've seen him plenty of times in high school. He's a great player." Coach Schroepfer of Gateway Basketball Club added, "Here's another thing- because he's so competitive, he's going to work so hard and the fact that Michael Porter is coming there also, it will drive that kid. It will drive him because he'll want nothing more than to be better than that kid. I think Mamoudou is very underrated right now. He's very under the radar. I think he's a top fifty kid and the thing is just nobody has seen him until this summer because he had been hurt.

"Michael Porter has a very similar game, but his game is a little bit more polished than Mamoudou's, but I'll take Mamoudou's motor and intensity level over Porter's. The difference with Mamoudou is it doesn't matter if it's with Michael Porter or in an empty gym, he's competitive. He's tooth and nail. He'll fight you for every rebound. He's that competitive. That's going to be a great asset to them. He'll try to be everything he can be. There's no doubt about that. It'll be interesting because I don't know if Coach Romar plays Porter at the two or the three. How Mamoudou fits into that equation. That's yet to be seen with his development. And don't get me wrong- the Porter kid is amazing! I've seen him play three or four times. His skill level in facing up and athleticism is very special. I'm not, in any way, saying Mamoudou is him."

Born in Bamako, Mali, Diarra said he tries to model his game after NBA All-Star Kevin Durant. He said that while people "may not know me yet, Washington is getting a high-character person who loves the game." Coach Scott Schroepfer added, "The player he reminds me of and in no way am I putting him in this category, but Kevin Durant is the type of game that he has. He can shoot from the perimeter. He's very athletic. He can handle the ball in the open court and he can play inside-out. I'm not saying he's Kevin Durant, but he's got similar skill sets and he's 6'9" with a 7'2" wingspan. He's a great athlete."

Injuries have waylaid Diarra's development a bit in America. "He's a kid that's had some injuries. He's been in the states for two years. He had a torn MCL, which kept him out about six months, and he had a broken bone in each of his two hands, which kept him out at different times. He's missed close to a year. His upside is really good. I mean just from the middle of March, when we got him, until now is night and day. The more court time he gets, the better," said Gateway's Scott Schroepfer.

Coach Schroepfer of Gateway Basketball Club highlighted Diarra's passion for improvement, "I think he can instantly bring in passion and intensity and enthusiasm. His enthusiasm is awesome. He's a very competitive kid and he gets excited. He fires his teammates up. I won't kid you. He expects as much out of his teammates as he does of himself. He's a kid that to give you an idea..I've got a indoor gym at my house. He woke up at 3 in the morning and got on the shooting gun and got in one thousand shots. He came back showered and got up at eight. He then did another workout. He's a very hard worker.

At the next level, Diarra can potentially create some long-term mismatches. Gateway coach Scott Schroepfer clarified, "Positionally, I think he can play the three or the four at the college level. He can guard the three because of his lateral speed and his length is so good. He can affect shots so well and he can stay off guys. We had him guard two's, three's, and four's because of his ability to switch on screens. He can play three or four feet off of people because he's so long and athletic. He can still contest. He's got a good ability to read defenses and good court awareness. His ability to read screens is getting better. That's probably a place where he needs some work.

"Offensively, he needs to be able to read screens better, but defensively, he does a good job with that. He hedges hard and contests as well. He does a good job of maintaining contact. His court vision is getting better and better. He did not get to face the basket much until he came to our program. There's not a lot of programs that have the size to be able to put a 6'9" player on the wing, but we did. So for him to learn to see the ball from a different position, that part of his game evolved quite a bit during the season. His court vision and recognition became a lot better. That's another thing that he's got a ton of upside in. Positionally, at the next level, I think he'll be a wing or a stretch four. The things he can do are pretty special."

Since May, Diarra has lived with the Schroepfers and their three children. "Mamoudou, as a kid off of the court, is a total joy. To give you an idea, he comes down, does his own wash, he's grocery shopping with my wife. He's pushing the cart and grabbing the bags. He's very appreciative and he's funny. And he's constantly on social media. He's a real communicator and he's always a really vibrant personality. He's always got a smile on his face. He's fun to be around," concluded Coach Schroepfer.