PULLMAN, Wash. — The Cougs got some welcome news Tuesday morning when top 100 Class of 2022 center Adrame Diongue committed to the program.
Diongue is rated the #81 recruit in the country by 247Sports. He is the second-highest-rated recruit in school history behind Klay Thompson. Diongue's top five included Kansas, Texas Tech, Kentucky, and UNLV.
“I decided to commit to Washington State because they have a great program and know how to develop players like myself,” Diongue said to On3. “The offensive style they play along with their tough defense makes me feel I could really fit in and help the team. They’ve also been recruiting me for over a year now. The coaching staff and head coach (Kyle) Smith have been tremendous from the start.”
He is a 7-foot center coming in at 185 lbs and hails from Senegal. He played his high school basketball at Compass Prep in Scottsdale, Arizona and has only played basketball for the past three years. Diongue was actually hosted by fellow Senegal native, Mouhamed Gueye, when he visited campus a few weeks ago. Gueye went into the transfer portal on Monday.
This is a huge get for a WSU program that has seen it's fair share of departures this offseason. Four key players have hit the transfer portal in Noah Williams, Mouhamed Gueye, Efe Abogidi, and Tyrell Roberts. Last season the Cougs played 37 games which means that there was a 185 opportunities for players start. Adding in the departure of Michael Flowers, who has exhausted his eligibility, and those five players accounted for 155 of the Cougs' 185 starts last season.
Currently there are four players currently still on the team for the Cougs who saw significant playing time last season: Guard TJ Bamba, who started 16 games, forward Andrej Jakimovski, who started six games, center Dishon Jackson, who started six games, and forward DJ Rodman, who started two games.
One of the reasons why Diongue may have committed to the Cougs is that if Gueye does indeed leave the team, there's an immediate opening to start in the post for the Cougs. Him and Dishon Jackson would make a solid pairing in the frontcourt.