(2026) - C Arafan Diane

[Class of '66 Old Fart 91,515]

Adam Finkelstein -

Another immediate “Rankings Riser” from this weekend’s @3SSBCircuit is Iowa United big man Arafan Diane. He is now rated as the top center in the rising senior class.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 91,515]

Story on Arafan Diane from The Daily Hoosier.  I've mentioned before that he had a WVU offer while DDV was head coach.  In the TDH story, it says our new staff offered him a couple of weeks ago.  I think Mike jumped the gun on this as there is no other evidence that an IU offer has been extended.  Be that as it may, it's a good story with background info on Diane.

https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/class-of-2026-iu-basketball-recruiting-target-profile-center-arafan-diane/

[Class of '66 Old Fart 91,515]

In a related article, Adam Finkelstein for 247, referred to Arafan Diane as a Rankings Riser based on his AAU play.  Finkelstein described him as a "monster paint presence" at the first EYBL session and the most dominant big man at last weekend's session.  He's jumped up to #22 overall and the #1 ranked center in the '26 class.

[Demo 23,994]

17 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

In a related article, Adam Finkelstein for 247, referred to Arafan Diane as a Rankings Riser based on his AAU play.  Finkelstein described him as a "monster paint presence" at the first EYBL session and the most dominant big man at last weekend's session.  He's jumped up to #22 overall and the #1 ranked center in the '26 class.

Watched part of a thing he did with Bossi that included a conversation about Diane and they mentioned IU specifically as a school to watch on this one.

[go iu bb 9,829]

It doesn't appear that IU has offered him yet but it's looking like it's just a matter of time. They've watched him multiple times and he was offered by DeVries while at WVU.

7'1" 260lb Center from Guinea who plays HS ball in Iowa.

Recently jumped in the 247 rankings from 95 to 22 and is their #1 Center.

247

[Class of '66 Old Fart 91,515]

We'll be optimistic that an IU offer will be forthcoming.  Listed at 7'1" and 260 lbs. plays AAU on the 3SSB circuit for Iowa United - stats below.  Back in February, Louisville was pretty confident they'd land him.  The following from the Bigredlouie.com website.

Arafan Diane is a 4-star prospect out of Iowa United Prep from Des Moines, Ia. Diane is 7-foot and 280 pounds and is the top prospect out of Iowa. He has received over 15 offers, but Louisville sent their offer back in September and was one of the first to reach out to this dominant center.  Cardinals are given the best chances to land Diane, according to On3 projections, as Louisville has an 11.3% chance of landing this prodigy out of Iowa. The Center recently played for Guinea in the FIBA U17 World Cup tournament last summer and dominated all competition.

247

Rivals

On3

FIBA Stats

 

Arafan Diane '26 - Iowa United
Date	Gms		Pts		FGM	FGA	3PM	3PA	FTM	FTA	Reb	Ast	TO	Blk	Stl
May '25	8		16.8		53	66	4	7	24	35	9.4	1.3	0.5	1.3	0

 

[go iu bb 9,829]

23 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

We'll be optimistic that an IU offer will be forthcoming.  Listed at 7'1" and 260 lbs. plays AAU on the 3SSB circuit for Iowa United - stats below.  Back in February, Louisville was pretty confident they'd land him.  The following from the Bigredlouie.com website.

Arafan Diane is a 4-star prospect out of Iowa United Prep from Des Moines, Ia. Diane is 7-foot and 280 pounds and is the top prospect out of Iowa. He has received over 15 offers, but Louisville sent their offer back in September and was one of the first to reach out to this dominant center.  Cardinals are given the best chances to land Diane, according to On3 projections, as Louisville has an 11.3% chance of landing this prodigy out of Iowa. The Center recently played for Guinea in the FIBA U17 World Cup tournament last summer and dominated all competition.

247

Rivals

On3

FIBA Stats

 

Arafan Diane '26 - Iowa United
Date	Gms		Pts		FGM	FGA	3PM	3PA	FTM	FTA	Reb	Ast	TO	Blk	Stl
May '25	8		16.8		53	66	4	7	24	35	9.4	1.3	0.5	1.3	0

 

lol @ that website for giving any credence to On3's projections.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 91,515]

Still no offer but On3 reported yesterday:  Mutual interest growing between Indiana and 2026 top-40 center Arafan Diane.

Staff will probably be watching him closely at the NBPA Top 100 Camp later this week.

[Demo 23,994]

https://x.com/DianeArafan1/status/1933994208152740240
 

Officially offered.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 91,515]

https://hoosierstateofmind.com/arafan-diane-7-foot-center-and-four-star-prospect-in-2026-class-lands-indiana-offer-01jw536wjy4t

 

Hoopshq.com -

 When Arafan Diane was 12 years old growing up in the West African nation of Guinea, he was buying a soccer ball at a local market and met Souleymane Kasse, the coach of the Guinea National Training Center and an assistant for Guinea’s national team. Kasse was surprised to learn the boy was so young. Looking at Diane’s long legs and long arms, he told Arafan he should buy a basketball instead.

That turned out to be excellent advice. Today, just five years later, Diane is one of the top high school basketball players in America. The 7-foot-1 senior from Iowa United Prep, a school which specializes in recruiting African players, shined this week at the National Basketball Player’s Association’s Top 100 Camp in Rock Hill, S.C. Diane’s skills are a little rough, but he is physical and agile, and he plays with impressive tenacity. He opened up by going for 25 points during his first game for Team Drummond and ended up averaging 13.3 points on 52.0 percent shooting to go along with 4.9 rebounds during the three days of play. Diane’s play made clear why he is ranked in the 247Sports Composite as the No. 1 center and No. 23 overall prospect in the Class of 2026. While playing for Iowa United on the Adidas 3SSB Circuit this spring, Dianie has averaged 16.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. He has jolted up to the No. 23 overall prospect and No. 1 center in 247Sports’ Top-150 class of 2026 rankings after being ranked in the eighties a few months ago. 

Much like his game, Diane’s English is a work in progress – he speaks five other languages, including French, which is the official language of Guinea – but he made clear that he was feeling confident in his performance at the Top 100 Camp. “I’m feeling good,” Diane told Hoops HQ midway through the event. “I’m pushing my team in winning every single day. This is a good opportunity. Most people don’t have this opportunity. I’m African. That’s different. I need to come in with a good mentality because you don’t have a mom (in America), you don’t have any dad, you don’t have nothing. You need a strong mentality.”

 

3SSB Circuit Stats for 8 games:  16.8 p  /  9.4 r / 1.5 a / .8 b   80% FG / 69% FT / he's 4-7 on 3s.

 

NBPA Top 100 Camp

Arafan Diane '26
	Gms		Pts		FGM	FGA	3PM	3PA	FTM	FTA	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	Min	Fls
114-86  W			25		8	12	0	0	9	10	2	0	2	0	0	24	0
118-100  L			7		2	6	0	0	3	4	3	0	3	0	0	18	4
79-64  W			8		3	7	0	0	2	2	7	0	1	0	0	15	3
Gm #4							NO	GAME	STATS
101-96  L			17		6	8	1	1	4	4	7	0	1	0	0	18	6
Count/Avg	4		14.3		58%		100%		90%		4.8	0.0	1.8	0.0	0.0	19

[Class of '66 Old Fart 91,515]

[Stuhoo 89,933]

12 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

https://hoosierstateofmind.com/arafan-diane-7-foot-center-and-four-star-prospect-in-2026-class-lands-indiana-offer-01jw536wjy4t

 

Hoopshq.com -

 When Arafan Diane was 12 years old growing up in the West African nation of Guinea, he was buying a soccer ball at a local market and met Souleymane Kasse, the coach of the Guinea National Training Center and an assistant for Guinea’s national team. Kasse was surprised to learn the boy was so young. Looking at Diane’s long legs and long arms, he told Arafan he should buy a basketball instead.

That turned out to be excellent advice. Today, just five years later, Diane is one of the top high school basketball players in America. The 7-foot-1 senior from Iowa United Prep, a school which specializes in recruiting African players, shined this week at the National Basketball Player’s Association’s Top 100 Camp in Rock Hill, S.C. Diane’s skills are a little rough, but he is physical and agile, and he plays with impressive tenacity. He opened up by going for 25 points during his first game for Team Drummond and ended up averaging 13.3 points on 52.0 percent shooting to go along with 4.9 rebounds during the three days of play. Diane’s play made clear why he is ranked in the 247Sports Composite as the No. 1 center and No. 23 overall prospect in the Class of 2026. While playing for Iowa United on the Adidas 3SSB Circuit this spring, Dianie has averaged 16.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. He has jolted up to the No. 23 overall prospect and No. 1 center in 247Sports’ Top-150 class of 2026 rankings after being ranked in the eighties a few months ago. 

Much like his game, Diane’s English is a work in progress – he speaks five other languages, including French, which is the official language of Guinea – but he made clear that he was feeling confident in his performance at the Top 100 Camp. “I’m feeling good,” Diane told Hoops HQ midway through the event. “I’m pushing my team in winning every single day. This is a good opportunity. Most people don’t have this opportunity. I’m African. That’s different. I need to come in with a good mentality because you don’t have a mom (in America), you don’t have any dad, you don’t have nothing. You need a strong mentality.”

 

3SSB Circuit Stats for 8 games:  16.8 p  /  9.4 r / 1.5 a / .8 b   80% FG / 69% FT / he's 4-7 on 3s.

 

NBPA Top 100 Camp

Arafan Diane '26
	Gms		Pts		FGM	FGA	3PM	3PA	FTM	FTA	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	Min	Fls
114-86  W			25		8	12	0	0	9	10	2	0	2	0	0	24	0
118-100  L			7		2	6	0	0	3	4	3	0	3	0	0	18	4
79-64  W			8		3	7	0	0	2	2	7	0	1	0	0	15	3
Gm #4							NO	GAME	STATS
101-96  L			17		6	8	1	1	4	4	7	0	1	0	0	18	6
Count/Avg	4		14.3		58%		100%		90%		4.8	0.0	1.8	0.0	0.0	19

18/19 from the line for a 7’1” kid?

That’s impressive.

[rayl456 948]

2 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

18/19 from the line for a 7’1” kid?

That’s impressive.

This kid is like Mellencamp’s line from his song “Cherry Bomb”…

”We were young and we were improvin’ “.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 91,515]

2 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

18/19 from the line for a 7’1” kid?

That’s impressive.

You made me nervous that maybe I'd made an input error so I doublechecked and he was indeed 18/19 on FTs.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 91,515]

https://www.insidethehall.com/2025/06/15/class-of-2026-big-man-arafan-diane-lands-iu-basketball-scholarship-offer/

[rayl456 948]

1 hour ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

https://www.insidethehall.com/2025/06/15/class-of-2026-big-man-arafan-diane-lands-iu-basketball-scholarship-offer/

He is a load.  Painter’s kind of big man.  Kid has decent skills.  Can DeVries and staff sell him on IU…or maybe I should say buy him?