Waves’ Diawara Finally Gets Good News
Pepperdine’s otherwise disappointing season has taken a turn for the better.
On Sunday, one day after ending a five-game losing streak with a 97-88 victory over Portland, the Waves learned that junior college transfer Yakhouba Diawara had been cleared to play.
Diawara, who was expected to be a starting forward, had been held out of the lineup while the NCAA investigated his amateur status. While attending high school in France, Diawara played eight games with professionals on a club team.
Pepperdine thought “his punishment would have been two games,” Coach Paul Westphal said. “It took two months and 15 extra games to decide his case. It’s mixed emotions, but it’s better than never.”
Diawara, 6 feet 7 and 225 pounds, is a strong defender and tenacious rebounder -- two areas in which the Waves (6-11, 1-1 in West Coast Conference play) need help.
On Monday, the NCAA also reinstated two other foreign players -- Diego Romero of Florida State and Dramane Diarra of Kansas State -- in similar cases.
“I think that the problem was there were too many lawyers, too many people not willing to expedite something on behalf of the student-athlete,” Westphal said. Diawara has been “disappointed because each week he was hearing that something would be happening soon.
“I think he’s ready to contribute in a big way.”
Big West Conference
This is the third year UC Riverside has been part of the conference, and the Highlanders have an opportunity tonight to show they are ready to contend for a championship if they can defeat UC Irvine.
Riverside has won two of three conference games, but those were on its home court; the Highlanders have lost six in a row to Irvine.
Coach John Masi says he talks “about physical and mental toughness, but we haven’t been able to put things together on a consistent basis.” The team is 5-1 at home but 0-5 on the road.
Asked whether his team was ready to show progress, Masi said, “I’ll answer that question for you after Saturday night” against Long Beach State.
*
Davin White arrived at Cal State Northridge from Chandler-Gilbert Community College outside of Phoenix with the reputation of a scorer. White is averaging 13.3 points, but the junior also has learned that scoring alone won’t satisfy Coach Bobby Braswell.
White was on the bench for the start of the Matadors’ game last week against Long Beach State but scored 20 points in Northridge’s 79-57 victory. Braswell has stressed defense and consistent effort to his point guard.
“The point guard takes a lot of heat in our program,” Braswell said. “Always has, always will.”
*
Cal State Fullerton is 4-8, 0-3 in conference play, but the record is deceiving. Included are three overtime losses and four consecutive defeats in which the Titans were tied or held leads in the final two minutes.
“I’m not thrilled with being 0-3, but hey, I’m vertical, so that’s a highlight for me,” Coach Bob Burton joked. “We’ve played hard right up until winning time and then, for some reason, we haven’t gotten it done.”