Ibrahima Diallo (Photo by Aidan Bostick)
By Matt Weiner (@MattWeiner20) – MBB Beat Reporter
Being 7 feet tall has its disadvantages.
Every new room you walk into requires a swift duck of the noggin so you don’t rubber stamp a wall with your forehead.
Airplane seats are already claustrophobic for the average-sized human, so just imagine what it’s like when your limbs are fully grown bamboo plants.
There’s a laundry list of everyday situations that become increasingly aggravated or complicated, however there are some perks.
Besides better views at concerts and reaching top shelves at grocery stores, it can grant you the ability to swat away layups like they’re a fly operating with half a wing.
Ibrahima Diallo is the only San Jose State Spartan listed at seven-feet tall.
An enigma of sorts with the trunk of a T.rex accompanied with pterodactyl wings for arms laced to his sides. A rare breed with an always present necessity.
He played in his first game since December on Sunday Feb. 20 against New Mexico, playing a pivotal role in snapping the Spartans 14-game losing streak. In 18 minutes on the court, he amassed 14 points on 7 of 10 shooting and five rebounds.
The space he provided around the rim on offense and took away on defense were some of his most recognizable impacts, although this can’t be seen in the box score.
SJSU head coach Tim Miles credits some of Omari Moore’s breezy drives to the hoops were results of “Ibrahima’s physicality, his ability to set screens, roll hard and be an option at the rim for a lob dunk.”
Throughout the long-lasting losing streak, the Spartans had a desperate need for size down low. Whether it was Nevada’s Will Baker, Fresno State’s Orlando Robinson or Wyoming’s Graham Ike, the personnel mismatches could be seen from a galaxy far far away.
“You can see what size does for us just in the sample size of one game,” said Miles.
He finished with three turnovers, four personal fouls and lacked touch around the rim on putbacks. Defensively, there were a couple instances where a Lobo blew by him. Overall, it was solid, but critiqueable due to mistakes that come with territory of not playing in a game for over two months.
The early success can overshadow the monotonous, day-by-day recovery Diallo had to go through to get to this point.
“You have to do the same thing everyday,” said Diallo. “Over and over and over. Sometimes I didn’t want to do it, but I had to do it to come back on time.”
Doing stretches and glute strengthening exercises aren’t glamorous and won’t become the next shiny toy on Tik Tok. Diallo did it because he knew that it would eventually put him in a position to commit mass murders on an orange rim that’s 18 inches in diameter.
Army crawling through barbed wire of boredom into the freedom of playing has given him a new “excitement” to the game, mentioning that all he thinks about is “needing to be on the court.”
After rejoicing with some family in Napa Valley about his performance, his focus shifted to the upcoming matchup against SDSU that was nearly a week away.
Just like how summer turns to fall with no break in between, the same goes for how the season of recovery unfolds into playing.