NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. -- Part of the fun of heading out to the Peach Jam each year is seeing at least one previously unseen prospect who blasts off the floor (literally) and makes you clasp your breath.
Sure, the hardcore recruitniks know almost all of these guys by the time they're playing in 17U Peach Jam games. But really, this is the time where a handful of prospects can elevate their status, step up and perform in front of national media and every big program in America.
This year, one such mini supernova is Hamidou Diallo, a 17-year-old five-star prospect in the class of 2017 who -- to my callow recruiting eyes -- looks as effortlessly, athletically gifted as almost any prospect I've seen since Andrew Wiggins in the class of 2013. Diallo is not the surefire prospect Wiggins was, but he's a relentless dynamo on the court, a guy you can't help but watch constantly as he plays.
Best part? He's not just alley-oops and put-back slams. Diallo's defense is better than his offense. He's going to go to a big-time school, and when he gets there, he'll become one of the most watchable products in college hoops, and certainly a valuable player given how much pride he takes in defending. That's always a commodity. Great athletes should always be great defenders, but that's not the case every time. With Diallo, you get a well-rounded, compelling player.
And as electric as any this class, no question. One high-major coach recruiting him told me he's the best scorer of any player in the class.
He's is considered a top-10 prospect with good reason. For now, Kentucky is the favorite. But there are plenty of teams courting him, and he's nowhere close to tipping his choice. Duke hopped on in April, just after UK, with a scholarship offer. Arizona, Connecticut, Kansas, Syracuse, Providence and plenty more are closely courting the kid. But Diallo has no timeline whatsoever. He said he hasn't begun to seriously consider colleges, paring a list, any of it. He'll sit with his parents after the summer and begin to set up visits and narrow his school choices.
"I'm nowhere near a decision right now," he said.
This is how Diallo got going at the Peach Jam. His New York Rens team won on Wednesday night thanks to the wild 3-pointer he made to send the game to overtime.
For Diallo, it's a big shot. His shooting needs work (if he can develop a truly reliable jump shot, he'll be a projected lottery pick, no question), but the good news is the form and figure is already there.
It's been a big ascension for Diallo in recent months. Duke and Kentucky, the two programs who've been atop the recruiting rankings for most of the past six years, didn't offer him a scholarship until a couple of months back. But once they did, it opened Diallo up to a new universe of opportunities. This is all falling into place as he'd hoped.
Last year, he was playing on the Under Armour circuit with the New York Lightning. He had some success, and in fact that was where he became known as five-star quality. But the exposure to top competition wasn't frequent enough. So on Aug. 1, 2015, Andy Borman became a father. Two days later, Borman, the coach of the New York Rens, started recruiting Diallo to join his program.
"He's extremely intelligent," Borman said. "His radar for bulls--- is a 10 out of 10. He knows if you're feeding him something that you think he wants to hear -- and he doesn't like it."
Borman calls Diallo's personality "dynamic" and thinks he's among the strongest prospects to come out of the greater New York City area in the past five years. He's considered a better prospect and with a higher ceiling than someone like Rawle Alkins, a 2016 five-star guard who should have an important role at Arizona next season.
"I think he's a unicorn," Borman said. "It is crazy. I think he could walk onto a track and qualify for the Olympics. His speed is ridiculous. His endurance, I play him endless minutes. His jumping ability. I think he could be an Olympic qualifier in multiple events. I'm not trying to put down Olympians, I just think he's that type of athlete. ... I know every AAU program that was Adidas, Under Amour or Nike recruited him, because he was special."
Diallo is one of four children, and surprisingly, his parents were not college athletes. He won the genetic lottery, clearly. In fact, Diallo was about 5-foot-4 toward the end of middle school.
"It came out of nowhere," Diallo said. "Growing up, I wasn't really known for being athletic. I don't know, it's just hard work paying off."
Now he's approximately 6-foot-4, still growing, and has a wingspan that will suit him well by the time NBA scouts examine him in the next couple of years.
Hamidou Diallo battled through some bad calls, delivered some highlights, & helped @RENShoops to a W @NikeEYBpic.twitter.com/vQRO5lRHxj
— Mike Yagmin (@MikeYagmiNERR) July 7, 2016
"He's grown his own wings," Rob Diaz told me outside the Riverview Park Activities Center on Thursday.
Diaz is an 18-year veteran of the New York City Police Department. He's also a mentor to Diallo, who keeps his circle of influence pretty tight.
"One thing that's weird for him, even switching AAU teams and this transition, I thought he was genuine and loyal," Diaz said of Diallo's departure from Under Armour. "It was not easy."
A lifelong product of LeFrak City, in the heart of Queens, Diallo could become a player of pride for the city (although he attends Putnam Science Academy, which is located in northeast Connecticut).
"It's not like he grew up around people that made it easy," Borman said. "For him it's just being honest, earning his trust, he wants to be coached and wants to be coached hard.
So far, the Rens are 3-0 here at Peach Jam, and Diallo (along with teammate Jordan Tucker) is a big reason why. Diallo averaged 20 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals through the team's first three games. He had 21 points off turnovers. He keeps wowing, his team keeps winning and his reputation keeps growing.
