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[QUOTE="RF2044, post: 2854303, member: 40"]
Statistics are an incredibly poor way to evaluate a high school prospect's potential -- especially for bigs.  It is far more important IMO to look for both athleticism and skill sets that are translatable to the next level.  And Diange was a big, strong kid who excelled scoring inside with either hand, had jump hooks with both hands, was comfortable turning over either shoulder, etc.  Really, he was atypical of the types of bigs we usually get -- a big, strong kid with a solid feel for low post offense, instead of a shot blocking jumping jack who doesn't do much else.

The OP in this thread expressed how it would be nice to have somebody like that -- a 6-9 240 pound guy.  I was merely pointing out that we did, but got screwed over by the NCAA.

I definitely agree that his performance at the collegiate level has been underwhelming, putting it mildly, but I don't agree with your conclusion that it was because he wasn't that good or peaked early or was just a man among boys at the HS level.  This is a kid who not only had the tools, but he thrived playing at a high level of competition, and excelled against other top 100 caliber bigs when he went head to head.

Him getting poor coaching and playing against randoms at some community college was a huge setback for his developmental curve.  If he'd come here, he would play against better competition in practice every day than what he gets in games at that level -- and it stunted his growth.

Really too bad -- he could have been a quality player here.
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