Gonzaga's Ismaila Diagne to remain in WCC, announces transfer to San Francisco
Ismaila Diagne already has some history with the West Coast Conference program he'll be joining next season.
The 7-foot Gonzaga center is transferring to San Francisco, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported on Saturday afternoon.
Diagne confirmed the news shortly thereafter, sharing a series of Instagram photos from a recent visit to USF with a caption that read: "Bay bound. Dons Nation let's get it!!"
As the Zags leave the WCC for the newly built Pac-12, Diagne will spend at least one more season in the conference playing for fifth-year USF coach Chris Gerlufsen, who won at least 20 games each of his first three seasons with the Dons before taking a step back with last year's 17-16 mark.
Gerlufsen's coaching staff also includes former Gonzaga guard Kyle Bankhead, who's been on USF's bench each of the last four seasons.
Diagne entered the transfer portal after appearing in 38 games over the last two seasons at GU, mainly filling in as the third big behind Graham Ike and Braden Huff.
The Senegal native only made three starts with the Zags, but one of those came last season against the Dons with both Huff and Ike nursing injuries.
Diagne averaged 3.4 points and 1.8 rebounds as a freshman while playing 6.9 minutes per game and making 12 of 15 shots from the field. He averaged 6.9 minutes again as a sophomore, improving his rebounding numbers (2.4 rpg) while watching his scoring (1.1 ppg) decline.
Diagne played just eight total minutes in his Jan. 24 start against USF, moving to the bench when the Zags elected to go with a small-ball lineup featuring wing Jalen Warley at the "5." The center has appeared in four of the five meetings between Gonzaga and USF the last two seasons, but didn't record any points in those games.
There should be an opportunity for Diagne to contribute immediately for a USF team that's replacing every member of its rotation, including forwards David Fuchs, Junjie Wang, Guillermo Diaz Graham and little-used center Saba Gigiberia.
Diagne becomes the fourth outgoing Gonzaga player to announce his transfer destination after wing Emmanuel Innocenti committed to Arizona State, wing Steele Venters committed to Washington and point guard Braeden Smith committed to Notre Dame.
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