Mamadi Diakite the toast of Virginia and beyond after big shot against Purdue

It’s a good thing Mamadi Diakite doesn’t get tired of taking about his contributions to the play that helped Virginia reach the Final Four.

The questions keep coming.

How has your life changed since hitting the shot against Purdue?

“A couple of teammates told me it’s all over Africa now,” said Diakite, a native of Guinea. “The news is talking about it, and I’m on it.”

Diakite was the catalyst of an amazing play that began with 5.9 seconds remaining in the South Region title match against Purdue, a game the Cavaliers won in overtime. Virginia will meet Auburn in a national semifinal on Saturday.

To review: With Purdue leading by three, the Boilermakers elected to foul and sent Ty Jerome to the line. He made the first. But the second fell short.

Diakite, from the middle rebounding position, managed to get his hand on the rebound and send into the backcourt. Teammate Kihei Clark tracked it down and fired as strike a Diakite. He caught the ball in outstretched arms and dropped in the game-tying shot from about 8 feet.

Virginia went on to win a game in which Purdue’s Carsen Edwards scored 42 points because of Diakite.

“His shot was amazing,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “That shot will go down, the pass and the shot, in Virginia basketball history.”

Diakite, who averages 7.5 points, was reminded that he’s on a list of African-born Final Four participants, and he shared ones with which was familiar. He mentioned Hakeem Olajuwon, who went to three Final Fours with Houston in the 1980s, and from the 2018 event, Kansas’ Udoka Azubuike.

“That was an honor for me,” Diakite said.

How has your fame increased this week?

“My cousins told me that if I got back home right now the whole population would welcome me, which is very amazing,” Diakite said. “And here in the U.S., everywhere I go people want to take pictures of me.

“I just saw Grant Hill and he told me how proud he was.”

Diakite was 14 when he first picked up a basketball in his native country. He watched some videos of the game but was a raw prospect when he arrived in the United States at age 16, enrolling at Blue Ridge School, a prep school in Central Virginia. He was tall, 6-foot-9 today, and athletic but had to grow into the game.

Diakite enrolled at Virginia and redshirted as a freshman. He started one game in his first two seasons and has started 20 games this season.

His best stretch of the season is happening now. Diakite is averaging 13 points and nine rebounds in the NCAA Tournament and was chosen to the All-South Region team.

“I couldn’t be happier for him,” Bennett said. “And the way he’s played in the tournament has been significant for us.”