Lamine Diane (born November 7, 1997) is a Senegalese professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who plays for the

Cape Town Tigers The Cape Town Tigers are a South African professional basketball team founded in Cape Town. The Tigers have played in the Basketball National League (BNL) and played in three seasons of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) between 2022 and 2024. ...

. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the Cal State Northridge Matadors. He was named the Big West Player of the Year in both 2019 and 2020.

High school and college career

Diane, the son of Senegal national team player Keletigui Diane, first began playing basketball at the age of nine, though he was initially more interested in soccer. He came to the United States in 2015 to play high school basketball at Findlay Prep in

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. He came into his own in his second season as he tripled his scoring average from 5 to 16 points per game. He committed to Cal State Northridge, redshirting the 2017–18 season to concentrate on academics and to allow a wrist injury to heal. As a redshirt freshman, Diane averaged 24.8 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots per game and led the nation in field goals. At the close of the season became the first player in history to win the

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's NCAA Division I, Division I. The conference was origina ...

's Player, Freshman and Newcomer of the Year awards in the same year. For his sophomore season, Diane was named to the preseason All-Big West team. However, he was ruled academically ineligible for the first semester by the NCAA. At the close of the regular season, Diane was awarded his second straight conference Player of the Year honor. He averaged 25.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, two blocks and 1.7 steals per game. Following the season Diane declared for the 2020 NBA draft.

Professional career

Delaware Blue Coats (2021–2022)

On December 3, 2020, Diane signed with the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

. On December 7, he was waived by the 76ers. He was then added to the roster of the 76ers'

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, making his debut on February 11, 2021, and scoring three points, blocking two shots and pulling down two rebounds. On October 25, he re-signed with Delaware. On February 3, 2022, Diane was ruled out for the season with a shoulder injury.

Cape Town Tigers (2023-present)

In October 2023, the

from South Africa announced they had signed Diane on their social media. He was, however, not on the roster of the Tigers for the 2024 BAL qualification tournament.

References

External links

Cal State Northridge Matadors bio

at Sports-Reference.com 1997 births Living people Basketball players from Dakar Cal State Northridge Matadors men's basketball players Delaware Blue Coats players Findlay Prep alumni Power forwards Senegalese expatriate basketball people in the United States Senegalese men's basketball players 21st-century Senegalese sportsmen Small forwards {{Senegal-basketball-bio-stub