Defend the Block: Diabate Learns Love of Basketball, English by Being 'Socially Open'
8/4/2021 10:15:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Features
On this week's episode of the "Defend the Block" podcast, men's basketball freshman Moussa Diabate talks about learning the English language, his basketball journey starting at the age of 12, his reasons for coming to Michigan, and a self-critique of his game. Also, women's basketball junior Maddie Nolan joins the podcast to discuss the summer work for the team, moving on from last season, and growing up in Indiana.
By Brian Boesch
University of Michigan freshman Moussa Diabate has always tried to be, as he describes it, "socially open." That mindset has allowed Diabate to pick up the game of basketball, learn the English language, and realize that the University of Michigan was the best fit for the next step in his life.
Diabate always was bigger and more athletic than most people his age, but he did not play basketball until the age of 12. For most of his early years, Diabate yearned to compete in track, despite many encouraging him to try basketball.
A good friend who lived nearby ultimately swayed Diabate to give basketball a chance. His friend said that Diabate looked like NBA All-Star Chris Bosh and told him to watch some video of Bosh.
"Right after I watched the video, I told my mom, 'Yeah, I want to try basketball,'" Diabate recalled on this week's edition of the "Defend the Block" podcast. "She was like, 'All right, if that's what you want to do, let's do it.' I tried, and since then, I just fell in love with it."
Diabate proved his friend, and all others who tried to get him to play basketball, right by excelling on the court. As a result, Diabate moved from France to Florida in advance of high school. He had to learn English and did so by being socially open.
"It got to a point where I was just holding conversation with people ... by like the end of my first year in America," Diabate said. "People were just like, 'Hey, Moussa, you can hold conversation now. You couldn't before'."
As Diabate's English improved, so did his relationship with U-M head coach Juwan Howard, even before taking over the Michigan men's basketball program in 2019. Howard and Diabate crossed paths several times while the latter was a high schooler, and they bonded well.
"As the time went on, he did some stuff that I really feel like not a lot of people would do," Diabate said. "As a person, first of all, he had me already. He was a great, great person."
Diabate has used that "socially open" mentality to arrive in Ann Arbor as one of the top incoming freshmen in the country. That mentality will not be the only thing required of Diabate to thrive in college basketball -- he has focused on getting stronger and working on his shot so far this summer -- but he knows it will help, and he loves that his teammates seem to share a similar mindset.
"We got a great group, great chemistry," Diabate said. "Nobody is trying to act like they're a superstar, or that they own anything. That's a great attribute that we have. I think that's what is going to help us get far at the end."
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