Moustapha Diagne Commits to Syracuse
Moustapha Diagne tries to get past fellow Syracuse University recruit Frank Howard during the Mary Kline Classic last Saturday.
(Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com)
Syracuse, N.Y. — It's not wise to come to a conclusion on a high school basketball player after watching him in just one game.
It's downright fool-hardy to make an assessment if that one game was a charity all-star game in May.
So right from the start, let's put this out there: The following should be considered only an impression of the three Syracuse University commits who participated in the Mary Kline Classic on Saturday at West Orange (N.J.) High School. The evaluations are being made in the context that this was a fun game played in a loosely-organized, barely-coached atmosphere.
Still, the event's two games did put Syracuse incoming freshman Chris McCullough and Class of 2015 commits Moustapha Diagne and Frank Howard on the court with some of the best high school players in the country.
Moustapha Diagne
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The big story of the day on Saturday was Diagne's announcement that he would attend Syracuse University. Diagne had offers from several schools, including Kansas, Florida and Villanova, but he had narrowed his list to Memphis and Syracuse and ultimately chose SU.
Diagne, who attends Pope John XXIII in Sparta, N.J., is listed on most websites as 6-foot-9 and he seemed rather slender in most of the photos I had seen of him. Throw in the fact that he's from Senegal and I really thought I might be looking at Baye Moussa Keita 2.0. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Diagne wasn't quite 6-9, but he was also a little thicker and stronger than I thought he'd be. He wasn't locked in on the low blocks. He moved to the perimeter. When he got the ball, he was comfortable putting it on the floor and making a move to the basket. He scored eight points in the first quarter alone and finished with 18.
His long arms — he has a 7-foot-3 wingspan — would give him the ability to play the middle of SU's zone, but I could also see him at forward. He would be tough to guard as he would pose something of a mismatch at either position.
Frank Howard
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If fans walked into the West Orange High School gym on Saturday and didn't know Howard's back story, they might not have been that impressed with him.
Syracuse recruit Frank Howard is a 6-foot-5 guard who can handle the ball.
Howard struggled, especially in the first half when he failed to score and couldn't quite connect with teammates on his passes.
But Howard just returned from a torn ACL within the past month. He suffered the injury last July and missed his entire junior year at Paul VI High School in Fairfax, Va.
He's still shaking off the rust and getting back to form on the court. He seemed to do just that Saturday. After not scoring in the first half, he scored 11 second-half points. He was fluid with the ball. His ball-handling skills and size make for comparisons to other big guards who have played at Syracuse such as Michael Carter-Williams, Brandon Triche and Dion Waiters. He could play either guard spot.
I thought he looked like Carter-Williams, but played more like Adrian Autry. (Kids, ask your dad).
Chris McCullough
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McCullough was a late addition to the Mary Kline Classic's senior game. He learned that he had achieved a qualifying score on the ACT just days before the event and then decided to play.
Chris McCullough (with ball) will be a freshman at Syracuse next season.
The initial impression of McCullough was a tall, athletic and fluid athlete. the 6-foot-10 forward ran the floor with ease. He handled the ball and showed a nice, if inconsistent, shooting stroke.
McCullough appeared to avoid the heavy traffic in the paint. He needs to get stronger and more aggressive.
He didn't have the best day, but many of the other players in Saturday's game have already enrolled at their respective colleges. They've been working out in an organized setting and playing a lot of pickup ball.
McCullough hasn't really played since his season ended back in early March. He's been at his home in the Bronx in recent weeks. He will enroll for SU's second summer session in early July. That will give him an opportunity to get in the weight-room and also work out under the guidance of the SU coaches.