Kansas State grad transfer Cartier Diarra has committed to Virginia Tech, per his Instagram page.Immediately eligible.— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 31, 2020
Edited to add: DUNK PLAY
👀 pic.twitter.com/wzdAx2mA6g— Cassell Guard (@CassellGuardVT) March 31, 2020
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Didn't waste any time filling that scholarship. 31mpg and 13ppg last season at K-State. Looks like a great addition.
31 mpg? Is that city or hwy?
Combined
Nice FG% and 3pt%. Free throw percentage is fairly rough at 66.9%. He is also a point. Shooting guard in CMYball?
Hes pretty close to what I would consider a nice percentage
It isn't terrible but, it isn't amazing for someone that is a shooter and drives to the basket A LOT. I'm not complaining. I just get antsy when we can't make free throws and then lose games by 2.
Woosh
Yep, I still don't get it. Leg
via GIPHY
via GIPHY
So can you like ... teach me how to communicate telepathically and wear shiny bodysuits? My eyes are already on the sides of my head and I wear a permanent, wide grin. It's like looking in a mirror.
Also, what was up with mothman? I heard you were in on it.
Sixty-nine dudes!?
Well...
why is he photoshopped wearing 2 different jersey numbers?
He's that fast.
Oh cool, that's probably pretty good for them.... Oh, look, there's a video I wonder wh-
*clicks play*
I had to sound out that last name slowly the first time I read it.
Looks like a great add, basing that opinion solely from that one clip posted.
Are you saying he's explosive like diarrhea, but in a good and positive way?
This must be one of those 9 ft hoops
That last dunk was a walk.
Word is his vert is 45"
Put him at the 5
He signs his name in 5th grade cursive. Well done
If that's not computer generated, then he should be disqualified from playing basketball due to being a cyborg. He's got a lot of repeat letters in his name and they all match perfectly.
I realize that my comment has now put Cartier under investigation by the NCAA and he will likely not be eligible to play basketball next season until he fixes his cursive writing.
worth noting, he's also keeping open the option of declaring for the NBA Draft, if he gets the appropriate feedback.
Yeah, we just picked up a transfer who is THAT good.
Let's hope he's not quite THAT good...yet.
Our program's watch game just got upped significantly...it's about time
This is a really good pick up
Chester Frazier connection
it's pronounced Kevin.
He should adjust to the surroundings nicely, K-State is the VT of the flyover states. Middle of nowhere off the highway in a tiny town with limestone buildings all over and a footall coach who was there forever.
Yep.
Except Manhattan is less than 2 hours from Kansas City...
Not for nothin' but Blacksburg is less than 2 hours from mf'in Roanoke
And Radford and wytheville and Princeton and bluefield hell even lynchburg and wiston salem aint to far past 2 hours away
Exactly. Blacksburg is 1:05 from Rural Retreat.
That's close to perfection.
How could i have forgotten about rural retreat😢
Except Manhattan isn't two and a half hours to Charlotte....
So about 50% further from a major metropolitan area. But a lot closer to a number of major metropolitan areas.
Other than that...
Nevermind, it doesn't matter.
Yeah, except Blacksburg has mountains, spring fed streams and beautiful color everywhere! Manhattan Kansas...not so much!
It ain't exactly a shit-show...
Flint Hills
Last season I thought we really lacked the ability to do anything once the opposing defense took away our first option, especially later in ACC play once teams realized Nolley was the only person that could really hurt you if he got going. Everything became a slog. We didn't have the experience to keep working and moving and also didn't have anyone with speed or athleticism to create their own offense. This transfer helps with the latter a bit. He's not an instant problem solver in that respect, but he will definitely help.
Keep your hype train at least 6ft from mine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-M3UbQoo94
In that clip, his game reminds me a little of Seth Allen
little bit of Seth Allen, little bit of Chris Clarke?
I may be missing it, but how many years of eligibility does he have for us?
Also: WOO! HYPE TRAIN COMING THROUGH!
Grad transfer. 1 year of eligibility. Eligible immediately
This is a really solid pickup. He's been a huge part of K-State's team for the last three years. Not a prolific facilitator, but an excellent scorer, both driving and shooting. Also solid defensively. Doubt he gets rated high enough at this point to go to the NBA, so expect to see him on campus next year.
He did lead them in assists this season, but they were not a very well organized team from what I understand. He is really talented though.
Assists are a dumb stat. It's a measure of style of play vs efficiency. If he can be efficient, I don't care if he doesn't get an assist all year.
Ya, He has like 251 assists to 216 turnovers in his career.
He's 6'4". Should fit in nicely.
He's the reason why Wilkins is transferring, CMY dog walked Wilkins (albeit CMY did it in the nicest, most respectful way possible).
Wilkins didn't seem to phased by it in his quotes. CMY bringing in guys that fit his style. Chico didn't seem to fit in very well this season.
Especially since MY was upfront and honest with Wilkins instead of giving him the cold shoulder.
I understand sports is a doggy dog (/s) world, and maybe its because I'm on day 20 of quarantine, but this still seems sad considering he wasn't personally investigating it prior to talking to CMYBALL. I can't imagine being uprooted like that. Here's to a better future Isiah.
It seems like Wilkins was more clutch with scoring 3's last year (not sure if there's proof of that) and he had cooled off a bit this year. I'd be curious to hear more about why their games are drastically different.
Great for CMYBALL and Wilkins for handling it the best way possible. Hope he has success wherever he goes.
* dog-eat-dog world *
Hell
From what I've seen, he's not likely to get drafted. Considering everything going on in the world, its likely that if and when the NBA draft does take place, teams may not even be able to do workouts and the NBA probably won't have a combine this year. For a guy that's a borderline prospect, that's missing out on vital opportunities. A guy in his position would be better served staying in college and hoping things get back to normal within the year, giving him better opportunities to improve his stock. And I say this completely without bias. If he chose some other school, I'd say the same thing.
Reading the opinions of some K-State fans, not a lot of them are too disappointed to see him go. I equate it to us losing Hazelton in football. Great athlete, makes a few spectacular plays every game, and can be a versatile asset. Can also take plays off, do something very frustrating and costly, and doesn't always seem to be there for the team as much as himself.
With that being said, I haven't closely watched a Kansas State basketball team in my life. That could just be K-State fans blowing smoke because they lost the guy. It's also possible that being reunited with Chester Frazier is what Diarra wants and needs.
Regardless, I am excited to watch him play. He is a good athlete who can create off the dribble. We were in desperate need of that in the last season. It also gives Bamisile and Maddox a chance to develop and learn CMY's system without getting thrown into the fire. It also gives us another perimeter defender who can handle the ball to go alongside Bede when the game is on the line. For as great as Cone is, he is not the guy I want on defense with the game on the line.
This is a good addition as we aren't really losing anything to get him. If it works, great. If it doesn't, that's fine too. I wasn't expecting this, and I don't view Wilkins as a big loss.
If Chester Frazier spent multiple years coaching this kid at K-state and still vouches for him to come and make VT better, I think it's safe to say this kid has a good work ethic and it's mostly K-state fans blowing smoke.
When he has the ball on the perimeter, he forces the opponent to guard the basket...an element we were sorely missing. And VT has more 3 pt options than KSU had. If Chester/Young can help him keep his head on straight, he's a valuable add.
Really, really want to add Brandon Johnson as well. We'd have the pieces to line up with anyone.
This means he has a "triple threat" skillset where all three options when a player gets the ball must be respected. Most players have 2 of the 3.
I know there is a "triple threat position", I'm talking about all the choices when a player gets the ball in the manner Dave is mentioning and what that means to the defense. The options:
1. Shoot
2. Drive
3. Pass
If a player excels at all of these so that the next step in the process is a real threat to score, the defense has to address all three. If the triple threat player has that skill set, it takes more than one defender to cover all of them, thereby breaking down the defense so that next step has a higher probability of resulting in points.
Yup. Last year, especially the latter half of the season, opponents were overplaying the pass when anyone tried to drive toward the basket...which resulted in quite a few turnovers and no one dropping back in to help defensively. Other than Radford toward the end of the season, there was rarely anyone that made teams pay for doing that.
Diarra isn't a great outside shooter but he is ultra quick on his drives, he isn't afraid of getting hit going to the rim, and he has a great step back move in the middle of his drives that he uses to create wide open mid range shots and (similar to a double move by a pass receiver) to get the defender's weight shifted and still drive by him to the basket. Very few guards can handle him alone and VT has enough 3 point efficiency (5% higher as a team last year than KSU) to make him doubly effective on the kick out.
Diarra isn't listed on the NBA's draft entry list that was published today. Looks like he's gonna play for us this Fall (or whenever the season starts...)
It's behind a paywall, but this article states he withdrew his name from the draft.
welcome to Blacksburg, Carti D!
From Roanoke Times
Ah yes, as we all expected, his last name is pronounced JOTT-ah.