Mizzou earns first commitment of Gates era

It took only three days on the job for Dennis Gates to land his first recruit at Mizzou, and it’s a good one.

Mohamed Diarra, a 6’10” forward from Garden City CC in Kansas and native of Paris, France, announced on Twitter that he is committing to the Tigers.

93100% COMMITTED !!! 🧘🏾‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/wmjz8dIDQP

— 93%💙 (@Rvtpi2) March 25, 2022

JucoRecruiting.com ranked Diarra as the top junior college prospect in 2022, as he comes off a season where he averaged 18 points and 12.6 rebounds per game. He has three years of college eligibility left.

It’s hard to not be excited about what Diarra could bring to the table. He’s a long body that has incredible driving and passing ability for his size, and can play above the rim. It’s also clear that Mizzou needed to find a consistent shot-blocker, since freshman Trevon Brazile may be out the door after his reported entrance into the transfer portal.

Diarra certainly had his fair share of offers from other high-major schools, too. 247sports says he had offers to play at Marquette, Maryland, Pittsburgh and West Virginia, among others. So it’s pretty impressive that Gates landed him in the same week that he took the job at Mizzou.

Once you step into a head-coaching job, you have to find something that can give fans early hope. Looks like Gates has done just that. We’ll see what comes next.