2026 big man Arafan Diane talks recruitment, building relationship with Kentucky staff

One of Kentucky's newest targets in the class of 2026 is fast-rising big man Arafan Diane. The now top 15 big man grew up in Guinea and is now making waves in the United States with his recruitment recently blowing up. Kentucky Wildcats on SI recently spoke with his guardian, Alex Victor, to discuss Diane's recruitment as well as where Kentucky stands.

Among the schools recruiting the 7-1 big man the most, Victor says Houston, Oregon, Indiana, Purdue, Virginia, UConn, Arkansas, Washington and Kentucky have been showing the most interest lately, with Victor saying Houston 'has been the front runner in terms of building the relationship.' Diane recently picked up an offer from Kentucky nearly two weeks ago. Victor shared he and Diane's thoughts on things moving quickly with them and the Kentucky staff, who he says has 'really stepped in' as of late. "I mean Kentucky's Kentucky, right? So historically, they have, it's close to, if not, the most NBA players. It's a storied franchise," Victor told Kentucky Wildcats on SI. "When Coach Pope offered, he was there like three games in a row as well. So it wasn't just an offer, and then, you know, you don't see me, or you don't hear from me, like, showed up the next three games. So I think that that his presence after the offer made it made a bigger impact than just just the offer." Pope actually has somewhat of deep ties with Diane, going back to a couple of years ago when he was at BYU. The head coach first intrigued about the four-star big man when he went to Guinea in 2022, keeping some tabs on him from afar after that. Now, three years later, Pope has rekindled that flame and is fully recruiting the fast-rising prospect. "When Arafan blew up in Omaha is really where we started getting calls from (Kentucky's) staff."

The seven-footer's guardian also shared what Pope's pitch was on a recent Zoom meetings that the staff has had with them, saying one of Pope's biggest selling points was the way he used Amari Williams last season and how he played through him on offense a lot. It is worth noting that in the Kentucky staff's meeting with them, Pope was much more focused on getting to know Diane rather than selling Kentucky, given how new the interest is. Victor did seem to be intrigued with what Pope did with Williams, taking him from someone not even included on draft boards to going 46th overall in the NBA Draft after just one season in Lexington. In terms of the pitches from other schools in Diane's recruitment, Victor also talked about Houston's, who looks to be one of, if not, the current frontrunner in the big man's recruitment, a staff that has been invloved with him the longest. The family aspect as well as their strength and conditioning reputation is intriguing, but there's one pitch that has really caught Victor and Diane's eye, with the staff pitching to them that "they've never had a big like Arafan and they believe that that's the key for them to win it all."

In terms of some of the other programs that have been recruiting Diane for a while, Victor says they haven't heard or seen much of Oregon head coach Dana Altman, but the Ducks have been on him for a long time despite that, with Victor also mentioning their history with big men, specifically N'faly Dante, as well as Purdue and their history with big men such as Zach Edey. As for Indiana as well, new head coach Darian DeVries has been recruiting Diane since he was at West Virginia. What is a factor in the four-star big man's recruitment when it comes time to pick a school?

"Geographically, he doesn't care where he goes," Diane's guardian said. "Let us try to get (Arafan) to the league. The resume of the coaching staff and the school and all that obviously plays into it quite a bit. ...I think Arafan is going to go into business in terms of schooling, which is pretty much everywhere." Victor says the program's history with big men is worth taking into consideration, but there are also more important factors. "You have to take that into consideration because the best way to know the future is to evaluate the past, right? There's no one end all be all criteria, but you've gotta take that into consideration because if they've done it before, it helps, if they've done it with bigs. Like, Purdue has a great history with bigs. You've gotta take that into consideration, you gotta respect that, the work they've been putting in. ...All of those factor in, but I would say trust, relationships, style of play and conditioning are the four pillars."

Victor also shared how Diane is a player, who he says puts winning above his own personal accomplishments. "He's a kid with very solid print, like, life principle that he wants to obey by. I don't know if it's because he didn't speak English so well at the beginning, but he kind of had a sixth sense for people and if he doesn't like what you stand for, it doesn't matter what the basketball piece is, what jersey you have. Arafan is all about winning. He doesn't really about his stats. He wants to play for Team Guinea to win, like, his biggest pride is winning." Victor also says Diane is looking for a 'we' type of program among anything else to go along with the winning culture. Who has been preaching that culture the most to Diane? Victor says Houston has really been selling the team-like environment and winning culture the most, as well as Purdue and UConn. Others will likely start selling that to Diane as well, especially those newest in his recruitment as they continue to build a relationship, like Kentucky.

Diane plans to move quickly with this recruitment, with a list cut to about eight or so schools expected to come in mid-August, with visits then being set up after the scholastic recruiting live period, which runs from September 5-7. The four-star big man plans to schedule four or five visits for the month of September, with a few rolling over int October, before then announcing his decision in later in the month before his high school season begins.

Kentucky may be one of the newest schools to get involved, but with the way they are moving, the relationship between the two should continue to grow as his recruitment continues to take shape.