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Kansas Jayhawks Recruiting: Cheick Diallo Commits To Kansas

By Zach Blochlinger

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THE KANSAS JAYHAWKS RECRUITING EFFORTS WERE REWARED WITH A COMMITTMENT FROM CHEICK DIALLO

The Kansas Jayhawks received some great news on Tuesday when Cheick Diallo announce he was coming to Kansas next season.

Power forward/center Cheick Diallo, the number seven overall recruit in the ESPN 100, committed to Kansas and Bill Self on Tuesday.

Diallo should be able to step into the vacant spot left behind by the departed Cliff Alexander, who has made himself available for the 2015 NBA Draft.

According to ESPN, Diallo said about Kansas:

"“I felt like Kansas was the best place for me. I can earn playing time right away. I played against Joel Embiid in high school and watched his development. I need to work on a lot of things and feel coach Self can help my game. On my visit, the campus was great and the people were nice. I could see myself there.”"

Diallo is a 6-foot-9 inch, 225 pound power forward/center that has a ridiculous 7’4″ wingspan. His ESPN scouting report is a good read:

"Diallo has a terrific motor. He competes at a high level on both ends of the floor. He rebounds on both ends with two hands at rim level. He runs the floor with extra long strides where he finishes with power. Diallo simply attacks the opponent."

Diallo announced his decision to attend Kansas on Twitter:

As he suggested above, Diallo somewhat compares to ex-Jayhawk star Joel Embiid. He started playing basketball late, similar to Embiid, and obviously plays the same position.

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Diallo’s ceiling, in my opinion, is a bit lower than Embiid’s was coming into KU for his first season. Embiid had more height at 7’0″, and really developed quickly under Bill Self and the Kansas coaching staff. Diallo could be a similar type player that Embiid was for Kansas, but I don’t think Jayhawk fans should get their expectations up that high.

On the contrary though, I do believe that Diallo will crack the Jayhawks starting lineup for the beginning of the season. Diallo’s presence in the middle paired with fellow big men Perry Ellis and freshman Carlton Bragg should cause problems for opponents.

With Diallo’s commitment, I see the 2015 starting lineup for the Kansas Jayhawks will look like this (barring any other commits over the next few days/weeks):

PG Frank Mason III

SG Wayne Selden Jr.

SF Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk

PF Perry Ellis

C Cheick Diallo

This is a very solid lineup that is poised to be a top-5 team coming into next season, and they may not even be done yet:

SF Jaylen Brown, who is the #4 overall player in the ESPN 100 has still yet to commit and has KU along with Kentucky, UCLA, and others still in the picture for Brown.

Brown is extremely talented and would all but certainly be the most talented player on the Kansas roster for the upcoming season, and would likely start over Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk at the small forward spot.

If Brown doesn’t work out, SF Tevin Mack is also very interested in Kansas and I fully expect for Self to land either Brown or Mack in the coming weeks.

Cheick Diallo’s commitment is another domino to fall in the right direction for Kansas for the upcoming season. Kansas fans should be getting excited for one hell of a season coming up.

Enjoy these Diallo highlights!

Next: Now KU Needs Jaylen Brown To Commit

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