Virginia In The Draft: Diakite Makes It Four

While it’s not clear that Ty Jerome, De’Andre Hunter, Kyle Guy and now Mamade Diakite will stay in the draft - Guy and Diakite, who announced Wednesday, both are leaving the possibility of a return open - who would have thought that Virginia would have more guys in the draft this year than Duke?

Diakite’s profile went up sharply by the end of the season but he may not be a first round pick. We’re not saying he’s not, but this year look how many guys think they can get an NBA job.

A lot of them - most, maybe - are just trying to gauge where they stand and Diakite is a lot closer to the top than he is to the bottom of this list.

Even so, he’s going to have to compete with a lot of very talented players in front of a lot of highly skilled analysts who will mercilessly pick his game apart. He may make it, but if not, it’s good to have a backup plan and UVA is a pretty good one.

For Virginia fans, we know the title was a thrill but the after party isn’t always as much fun.