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Kansas Basketball: What Cheick Diallo Means to the Kansas Jayhawks

By Matt Ostrowski

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Finally, at around 2:30 pm Wednesday afternoon, Cheick Diallo was cleared to play basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks. Diallo will make his long awaited collegiate debut next Tuesday against Loyola (Md.).

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It’s been a long time coming for Kansas, and college basketball fans in general. While there’s a lot to be excited for about the impact he will make on the floor, I’m almost equally as excited that the whole ordeal is over with. I was so tired of the pointless updates that didn’t really update us on anything, and with Kansas basically turning this into a media outrage against the NCAA, it was impossible to escape from.

Every day I would wake up and see that someone was complaining about something again. “The NCAA is wrong.” “Diallo didn’t do anything wrong!” “This is ridiculous.” Blah, blah, blah. There was always a whole lot of quotes and outrage, but no actual updates.

But now, it’s finally over. The fiasco is done.

So what does this actually mean for the Jayhawks? Like any team, they have their weaknesses, but they’re already very good, considering they’re ranked in the top 5 and coming off a championship in Maui. But Diallo should fix their most glaring weaknesses.

Kansas has a wealth of options in their frontcourt this season. Obviously, Perry Ellis is going to see the bulk of the minutes at the four, but the five has been filled by four different players for the Jayhawks this season: fifth year senior Jamari Traylor, senior Hunter Mickelson, redshirt junior Landen Lucas, and freshman Carlton Bragg.

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The issue is that all of those guys are one dimensional players. Traylor and Lucas see the major bulk of the minutes, with Traylor being Bill Self’s choice to start next to Ellis. But when Traylor is on the floor, Kansas can never seem to rebound quite well enough. Ellis isn’t that great of a rebounder to begin with, and putting another undersized big man on the floor in the 6’8″ Traylor is a recipe for disaster.

Last year, Traylor’s defensive rebounding percentage of 11.2% ranked last among KU’s big men (Traylor, Ellis, Alexander, Lucas, and Mickelson), and even behind wing Brannen Greene. This was generally a result of his lack of size. Watch here as Matt Costello steals this rebound from Traylor just because he’s bigger.

On the offensive end, Traylor is known for being erratic, out of control, and making silly passes. He averaged three turnovers per 40 minutes last season, a terrible number for a big man with a usage percentage of just 15%.

The good news about Traylor is that he’s very quick for his position. He can switch onto most guards and do a decent job of staying in front of them. He’s good for one highlight reel block at the rim per game, but other than that, really isn’t a rim protector because of his small stature.

Lucas, on the other hand, is probably the best rebounder of the bunch. He posted a defensive rebounding percentage of 19.1%, which was up there with some of the better rebounders in the country. Jahlil Okafor, for example, posted a defensive rebound percentage of 18.2%.

But of course, that’s about all he does well. He contests shots at the rim on defense, but is extremely immobile out of the pick and roll, where Self likes to either switch, or hedge. Here he switches, but can’t stay in front of Wade Baldwin, resulting in a wide-open three for Vanderbilt.

And on offense, he’s a complete non-factor unless he’s dunking the ball. He’s great at sealing his defender and receiving the pass, but lacks any touch whatsoever on his hook shot.

So Kansas either goes with Traylor and sacrifices a bit on the boards or in rim protection, or goes with Lucas and sacrifices some quickness and offense. Mickelson provides elite shot blocking ability, but not much else, and Carlton Bragg might be the best offensive weapon, and looks to be fantastic in a few years, but because of his high energy playstyle, he tends to be very out of control.

Diallo, on the other hand, is very fast for his position. He projects to be a very good shotblocker, and very good rebounder. He stands at just 6’9″, but is very lengthy, with a 7’3″ wingspan.

"Diallo can extend and contort in seemingly painful ways to snag a rebound out of his area. That capability, along with his long arms, enables him to play much taller than the average 6-9 center.Defensively, he’s a superlative shotblocker who should become even more effective positionally once he gains muscle. At 210 pounds, he isn’t a lightweight now and already possesses wiry strength."

—scout.com

Diallo, essentially, combines the positives of all of Kansas’ bigs. He’s quick enough to switch on pick and rolls, big enough to contest shots at the rim, has enough length to block some shots, and should be a very good rebounder.

Scouting reports don’t have him as a great scorer, but he doesn’t have to be. The rest of the Jayhawks’ starting lineup (Frank Mason, Wayne Selden, Devonte Graham, and Perry Ellis) are all currently averaging double figures.

Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas Jayhawks /

Kansas Jayhawks

He probably won’t slot into the starting lineup immediately, but he has plenty of time to adjust. Kansas’ December slate of games isn’t all that challenging, so he has about one month to get ready for conference season.

Expectations almost seem too high for Diallo, thanks to the endless wait to see him on the court. People might seem underwhelmed by how he performs at first, but he doesn’t have to be some sort of freshman phenom in order for him to make this Jayhawks team great. All he has to do it provide rim protection and rebounding next to Perry Ellis. That’s what the Jayhawks are missing, and that should be exactly what he brings.

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