Ousmane N’Diaye may be the newest name in Kentucky’s frontcourt, but inside the program, he’s already starting to draw real buzz.
The 22-year-old, 7-foot newcomer from Senegal stood out at Big Blue Madness, especially in the dunk and 3-point contests, and sophomore center Malachi Moreno says the Wildcats may be just scratching the surface with what he can bring.
“He’s changed his game a ton. I think the first couple weeks he was kind of getting an overall feel for what college basketball is, but ever since then, (Ousmane) is something else,” Moreno said at UK’s Media Day.
“He’s shooting the ball and I think just overall his physicality is just taking a big step forward, and he’s gonna surprise a lot of people. Might even be an All-American.”
That kind of praise is notable on its own, and it goes beyond what Kentucky coach Mark Pope has said about N’Diaye.
Moreno said N’Diaye’s early adjustment period was exactly what you’d expect from a player who has not played collegiately, but that the big man is now beginning to settle in and show more of what he can do.
“I think from what I’ve seen on tapes, I think overseas he was kind of spread out on the floor a little bit more, not asked as much to do a lot in the paint,” Moreno said. “I think he’s kind of understanding what it is now, and now he’s really starting to play.”
N’Diaye is battling transfer Justin McBride for minutes at the four, and McBride sees the fit clearly. Both players can stretch the floor, and that ability matters for a Kentucky roster looking to open things up on the perimeter.
“I think the main thing that we do have in common is we can shoot the ball, space the floor out,” McBride said at Media Day about N’Diaye. “That’s really good for this year’s team because we can space the floor out and make it harder for defenders to guard us on the perimeter.”
N’Diaye’s path to Kentucky has taken him through Germany, Italy and Spain. Most recently, he played in Italy’s top division, where he averaged 9.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 0.9 steals per game in 28 games.
And if there’s any doubt about the kind of athlete Kentucky has brought in, Moreno offered a play-by-play example from practice that stuck with him.
“One day in practice, we were in a drill and he just came flying down the court and jumped from on the SEC logo and I was scratching my head because I was like, ‘I ain’t never seen that before’ and he dunked the ball hard too, and I was like, ‘Your hand hurt?’ and he was like, ‘No’, so that’s all you need to know,” Moreno said at Media Day.
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