Recruiting: Could guard Hamidou Diallo go straight to pros?

Will 2017 athletic shooting guard Hamidou Diallo take the Thon Maker route?

On the Nike EYBL Circuit this summer, 2017 6’5″ five-star guard Hamidou Diallo was unstoppable.

His leaping ability was must-see Vine material. His ability to glide with the basketball in his hands was unique to watch. And his slashing skills resulted in easy buckets at the rim or pull-up mid-range jumpers.

Diallo averaged 18.6 points per game during the Nike EYBL regular season and upped his average to 21.5 points per game in Peach Jam.

Syracuse and UConn seem to be all in in regards to the Putnam Science Academy prospect, but Diallo’s stock has grown even more with his summer performance. He has offers from the likes of Arizona, Duke, Indiana, Iowa State, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina State, UNLV, and USC, amongst many others.

But will Diallo ever entertain all us hoop fanatics at the college level?

The Queens, NY native told SNY at the Elite 24 Under Armour event in New York that he could go the Thon Maker route, and declare for the 2017 NBA Draft following a post-graduate year of high school.

"Hamidou Diallo could pull a Thon Maker and go directly from the preps to the pros in 2017, but the 6-foot-6 New York City wing says he prefers the college route.“Possibly,” the high-flying shooting guard told SNY.tv at the Under Armour Elite 24 practice on Friday of declaring for the 2017 NBA Draft, “but I’m not really looking at that right now. But it’s possible.”He added: “I wouldn’t be able to answer that question for you because I’m honestly just thinking about college right now. I want to go to college for sure.”“You never know what happens,” he said, “that’s why I’m saying it’s possible.”"

Maker, a 7’0″ center from Sudan, was able to find a loophole in the NBA Draft rules this past year. He went straight from Orangeville Prep Athletic Institute in Canada to the NBA (he was one year removed from his graduating class and was over 18 years old when he declared), where he was selected 10th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks.

Despite obvious flaws in his game, Maker was able to “hide” himself from scouts. He wasn’t exposed to the increased pace of the college game (for example, look how far Skal Labissiere dropped in the draft) and even sat out the Nike Hoop Summit and the NBA Combine.

"“Why be exposed in college?” one college coach said. “Go get 30 in every high school game and let people think you’re better than you are.”"

Diallo could make a similar move as he is playing a post-graduate season at Putnam Science Academy. He already graduated from the prep school and will be over 18 when the opportunity presents itself for him to declare.

By reading his comments, it’s obvious that Diallo would prefer to play college basketball. One of the reasons for that could be that he certainly doesn’t pose the upside and doesn’t have the game that Maker has.

Diallo is a freak athletically, can get to the basket at any time, can hit an occasional jump shot from the perimeter, competes hard on defense, is dominant in transition, and has quick hands. However, he is way too inconsistent from long range (shot 17 percent from downtown in the Nike EYBL regular season). That could create a major problem when he faces more mature competition and more athletic defenders.

Will Diallo be able to create as successfully against those stronger, more athletic NBA defenders? Can he pick his spots at the NBA level?

It’s all speculation at this point, but it would be better for Diallo’s career long term if he played at least one year in college.

Next: Projecting Georgia Tech's starting lineup

Athletic bigs who block shots and stretch the floor are a rarity, and Diallo certainly doesn’t have those type of traits that will attract immediate NBA attention.

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