Seton LaSalle grad Diop leaving Pitt for Louisville

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Playing against national power Louisville in January, which was undefeated at the time and ranked No. 2 in the country, Pitt’s Yacine Diop scored 26 points, twice as many as any player on the court.

Little did Diop know then that the team her squad lost to that game would be the same one she would be playing for her final college season.

Diop said she decided right after the season ended that she would transfer, and she recently picked her new school. Diop committed to Louisville while on an official visit. She had also visited Ohio State and Rutgers.

Diop, a 5-foot-10 forward, is a graduate transfer who will be eligible immediately for the Cardinals, who will return four starters from a team that won ACC regularseason and postseason titles and reached the Final Four.

“I picked Louisville because, first off, they’re one of the top teams in the country,” said Diop, a native of Senegal and 2014 graduate of Seton LaSalle High School. “They only lose one player which gives them a higher chance of getting to the Final Four again. I want to be part of that experience. I only have one year left. I want to win. I’ve dreamed of winning championships.”

As a redshirt junior at Pitt, Diop led the Panthers in scoring and rebounding, averaging 15.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Diop finished her Pitt career with 1,093 points, which ranks 18th all time.

But Pitt has struggled since reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament in Diop’s freshman season. The Panthers have gone just 36-55 the past three seasons. Two star players transferred — Brenna Wise to Indiana in 2017 and now Diop — and Suzie McConnell-Serio last month was fired after five seasons as coach.

Diop said she talked to new coach Lance White about her future, but by that time she said she had already made up her mind.

“The only reason [I decided to transfer] was I want to win,” said Diop. “I only have one year left and I want to get exposure. I want to play at the next level.”

Before Diop plays her first game for Louisville, she’ll play a few with the Senegalese National Team, which will compete in the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Spain in September.

Freshmen get offers

Two of the WPIAL’s most highly regarded freshman girls basketball players recently picked up Division I offers. North Allegheny guard Lizzy Groetsch and Bethel Park guard Olivia Westphal were offered by Akron on the same day. Three days later, Groetsch was offered by Duquesne. Westphal already owned a Duquesne offer. The Dukes offered her last summer. Groetsch averaged eight points and seven rebounds per game as a starter for a North Allegheny team that won the WPIAL Class 6A title and advanced to the PIAA semifinals. Westphal averaged 14.4 points per game and was the only freshman from a Class 6A school named all-section.

Baseball commitments

Canon-McMillan’s Zach Rohaley (Wheeling Jesuit); North Hills’ J.T. Mazula (Baldwin Wallace); Steel Valley’s Alex Ligeros (California).

Basketball commitment

Seton LaSalle’s Nick Deanes (Mount Union).

Football commitment

Shaler’s Brian Colarusso (Oberlin).

Volleyball commitments

Bishop Canevin’s Tamara Blue (Chatham); Derry’s Alix Ellis (Penn State Greater Allegheny).