The UConn men’s basketball team has a lot of talent in their backcourt this upcoming season. Reigning national champion Tristen Newton, top recruit Stephon Castle, transfer sharpshooter Cam Spencer and more. One piece that isn’t mentioned frequently is Hassan Diarra, a member of the title team who is returning. Diarra, brother of injury laden player and now staffer Mamadou Diarra, is a senior transfer from Texas A&M. On a team with so much to offer in all positions, where does Diarra stand and what will his role look like?
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LAST SEASON
This past year, Diarra showed promise to start but wasn’t able to keep his momentum. In his first game against Stonehill, the point guard showed his ability to impact the game in a number of ways. Off the bench, he scored 11 points to go along with seven boards, five dimes and three steals. He showcased his gritty playstyle and unique skill set with Andre Jackson Jr. sidelined. Unfortunately for Diarra, those stats were all season highs, except for when he notched four steals against Villanova.
The Stonehill performance earned Diarra a start in the next two games, but he never looked the quite as impactful. A bench piece, he bested 20 minutes just once in the Huskies’ last 30 games, right around the time when their roster stabilized for good and stayed injury-free. Diarra was never much of a shooter, his mark from deep staying below 20% on 37 shots. He also hit on just 18 of 46 attempts from inside the arc, good for just over 30%. His passing was solid, but unremarkable, assisting on about two buckets per game.
Diarra earned his minutes with hustle and defense though. He only amassed 28 steals on the year, but was an exceptional on-ball defender. He also brought palpable energy to the team, helping them escape a funk or stop a run when needed. Diarra wasn’t a glue guy, but is someone who does a lot more off the stat sheet than on.
This was unfortunately not enough to keep his minutes down the stretch. As coach Dan Hurley shrunk his rotation for the NCAA tournament, Diarra’s minutes evaporated. He played less in all of March Madness than he played in the Boston University game alone. So where does that leave things for the future?
OUTLOOK / UNDERLYING QUESTIONS
This year, Diarra appears to be in the mix of the rotation. He started games in the team’s Europe Tour, but one can only take so much from that. It becomes hard to imagine that the senior would start long-term over freshman phenom Castle, but he likely has the advantage over Solomon Ball. It’s not unreasonable to see him having a sixth-man type of impact early then fading back into the end of the bench as the freshmen overtake him. Adding Spencer to the mix also throws a wrench in things, as the Rutgers guard will command minutes that were previously there for Diarra to earn.
The biggest question in his game for this year: What does Diarra’s offense look like? He obviously isn’t as poor a scorer as he showed this past year in such a small offensive sample size. But if he makes a jump from the 32% he shot from long range his sophomore season at A&M, then there’s likely a bigger role available.
Diarra has the misfortune so far of having his role decrease as he’s gone through college. He started his career playing half of the Aggies’ minutes, but his minutes have been cut by about a quarter each season. If he can show improvement and capitalize on his minutes early, he’ll have a chance to stave off the freshmen looking to make up ground.
FLOOR
The floor is fairly low here. Diarra isn’t guaranteed much, as illustrated by his extended bench time in March. A bad season for him involves fantastic guard play from Castle and Ball. If Castle plays to the level of 2022-23 Jordan Hawkins, Ball plays to the level of 2019-20 James Bouknight and Diarra can’t hit his shots, he’ll be the odd man out and will keep the bench warm.
CEILING
As always taking out the possibility of injuries, Diarra could stand as the Big East sixth man of the year. He has the defense, the experience and he’ll have the chance to earn season-long playing time. Those minutes will come if Diarra can hit over 35% from deep, pass the ball well and keep his defense on lock. The starting lineup will be hard to crack for an extended period regardless of anything, but with the quality of UConn’s roster, he could be a great bench piece on an exceptional team.
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