Huskies Make First Cut for Nation's No. 1 2026 Center

Yet everything about Diane says program anchor who can turn a team into a championship caliber contender.

The beat goes on with Sprinkle's recruiters no doubt putting in daily calls to the native African and trying to get a Montlake visit out of him.

So far, Diane has set up campus trips to Arkansas on Sept. 12-14, to Kentucky on Sept. 26-27 and to Houston on Oct. 9-12.

Other schools still in the running for him are Connecticut, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville,. Oregon, Purdue and Virginia.

Programs that were among those eliminated were home state Iowa, Arizona, BYU, Creighton and defending national champion Florida.

Diane currently plays for Iowa United Prep and last year took part with Guinea in the FIBA U17 World Cup in which he averaged 19.1 points and 11.7 rebounds over seven games in Turkey.

The big man told Hoops HQ how he was just 12 when he went to buy a soccer ball at an African market and encountered Souleymane Kasse, an assistant coach for Guinea's national team.

Kasse convinced him, with his long legs and arms, to pursue basketball rather than his original sporting option.

He helped direct Diane to Montreal and then to Iowa United Prep, with the latter open to welcoming African players into its program.

Diane is an intelligent player, picking up things rather quickly especially after going through a growth spurt.

He also speaks five languages, with French the official dialect for Guinea. Communication skills are a big part of who he is.

“I’m feeling good,” Diane told Hoops HQ this summer. “I’m pushing my team in winning every single day. This is a good opportunity. Most people don’t have this opportunity. I’m African. That’s different.

"I need to come in with a good mentality because you don’t have a mom [in America], you don’t have any dad, you don’t have nothing. You need a strong mentality.”

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: