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Big West Basketball: In-depth look at Cal State Northridge C Lamine Diane

By Bryan Mauro

NORTHRIDGE, CA - DECEMBER 18: General interior view of the opening tip-off of the men's basketball game between Daryl McCoy #44 of the Drexel Dragons and Lenny Daniel #5 of the Cal State Northridge Matadors on December 18, 2009 at the Matadome in Northridge, California. (Photo by Jeff Golden/Getty Images)
NORTHRIDGE, CA - DECEMBER 18: General interior view of the opening tip-off of the men's basketball game between Daryl McCoy #44 of the Drexel Dragons and Lenny Daniel #5 of the Cal State Northridge Matadors on December 18, 2009 at the Matadome in Northridge, California. (Photo by Jeff Golden/Getty Images) /
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ST LOUIS, MO – MARCH 23: A view of Basketballs lined up during warm ups prior to game between the Stanford Cardinal and the Kansas Jayhawks in the third round of the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Scottrade Center on March 23, 2014 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO – MARCH 23: A view of Basketballs lined up during warm ups prior to game between the Stanford Cardinal and the Kansas Jayhawks in the third round of the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Scottrade Center on March 23, 2014 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Expectations for Lamine Diane in 2019-20

The Matadors are ready to improve upon on their 13-win season a season ago. Diane is back and ready to show the country his season was not a fluke, but that he can be better. Coach Gottfried has loaded the roster with talent around his star. The Matadors currently have two stars that are going to win them a ton of games this season. Guard Terrell Gomez makes up the other half of the duo and that duo helped account for over 50% of the Matador scoring a year ago.

When mentioned earlier that Diane was named the Big West player of the year, it is the first such honor for a Matador. The forward has a great chance to add to his trophy case with the second consecutive Big West player of the year award. Coach Gottfried is expecting big things out of his star this season. Even with the high expectations the star forward is going to have to put in some work to improve on a couple of weaknesses in his game. If he can shore those up, he would be close to NBA ready. A good season may mean he tests the waters, and most likely stays in the draft.

One thing that Diane could improve on is his penchant for turning the ball over. He averaged three turnovers a game last year, which led the team. He also took 225 more shots than anyone else on the team. It is a fact that the Matadors are going to get the ball into their stars hands especially in the paint where he can do damage. If he can cut down the turnovers and improve his 52% average from the free throw line, improvement is natural.

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He is a matchup nightmare for anyone and overpowers and outclasses most big men in the Big West every night. Northridge is not a tournament team this year, but a 18-20-win season is plausible and that would be a successful year, especially after the last decade of basketball.