Apr. 28—Gonzaga picked up a commitment from one of the best players in the transfer portal and should enter the 2026-27 college basketball season with one of the country's top frontcourts as a result.
Massamba Diop, a 7-foot-1 center from Arizona State who's been linked with Gonzaga for much of the last month, committed to Mark Few's program on Tuesday according to multiple reports.
Diop has widely been considered one of the top two or three centers in the transfer portal since it opened the day after the national championship game and was one of the top transfers still available as of Tuesday.
An incoming sophomore who should be a game-changer for Gonzaga at both ends of the floor, Diop was ranked anywhere from No. 3 (On3) to No. 29 (The Athletic) on various transfer portal rankings. Most recruiting websites considered Diop the second-rated transfer center behind Kansas' Flory Bidunga, who happened to be the only Big 12 player to block more shots than Diop (2.1 per game) last season.
The Zags were able to swing a commitment from Diop days after he completed a recruiting visit to St. John's, the other program thought to be in the mix for the 7-footer's services.
Diop becomes the second transfer addition for Gonzaga, which received a commitment from Houston guard Isiah Harwell on April 12, and immediately becomes the top candidate to start in the frontcourt alongside Braden Huff, who was having an All-American-caliber season before a knee injury ended his junior campaign in mid-January.
Diop averaged 13.6 points and 5.8 rebounds as a freshman and should give the Zags a level of rim protection they haven't had since Chet Holmgren's lone season at GU in 2021-22. The 7-footer turned away 69 shots last season — 31 more than GU's leader, Tyon Grant-Foster — and blocked a season-high seven shots in a Big 12 game against Colorado.
The 21-year-old has been on Gonzaga's radar since at least November, when Few's team visited Tempe for a nonconference game against Arizona State. Diop didn't have an efficient shooting night, but still scored 11 points on 4 of 10 from the field to go with four rebounds, two blocks and two assists.
Three weeks after ASU moved on from longtime coach Bobby Hurley, Diop entered the transfer portal with a "do not contact" tag. Gonzaga and St. John's quickly emerged as the two frontrunners for the talented center, creating a high-stakes recruiting battle between Few and fellow Naismith Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino.
Gonzaga got Diop on campus first and students who caught word of the center's impending visit hung a "We Want Diop" sign off of a second-floor balcony at Desmet Hall. The sign was removed by campus security before Diop arrived later Saturday afternoon, but photos of the spirited recruiting effort still floated throughout social media over the weekend.
In another photo shared by GU's 247Sports.com affiliate, Inside the Kennel, Diop was seen touring campus with returning Gonzaga players Mario Saint-Supery and Davis Fogle. Earlier in the afternoon, a Gonzaga contingent including assistant Jorge Sanz, general manager Kurt Bambauer and outgoing Zag center Ismaila Diagne were stationed at the Davenport Grand Hotel around the time Diop arrived in Spokane on Saturday.
Diagne is in the transfer portal himself after spending two seasons as a backup at GU, but the 7-foot sophomore was still involved in Diop's visit and has a relationship with the ASU transfer that dates back to when they were teammates and roommates at Real Madrid's youth academy.
Diop visited St. John's the following weekend, sharing a photo of the New York City skyline from his Instagram account on Saturday afternoon.
Two days after Diop's visit concluded, billionaire entrepreneur and St. John's booster Mike Repole appeared on the Pat McAfee Show and spoke about the state of college basketball in the NIL/revenue sharing era.
"I've got to win the Oaks and (Kentucky) Derby to afford St. John's (roster)," Repole told the popular radio host.
The founder of BODYARMOR Sports Drink, Repole was presumably referring to Diop when he told McAfee, "we've got an announcement maybe coming out today on a player we're 50/50 on him. If we get this player, man, if Rick Pitino doesn't get to the Final Four I'm going to be coaching the team this year."
Gonzaga, ranked anywhere from No. 9 to No. 24 in way-too-early preseason rankings, should move up a handful of spots in the wake of Diop's commitment.
It marks the second straight year the Zags have plucked a player from one of Hurley's rosters at ASU. Guard Adam Miller played two seasons with the Sun Devils before transferring to Gonzaga, where he started in 25 of 35 games and averaged 7.3 points.
Coincidentally, another member of Gonzaga's 2025-26 roster, wing Emmanuel Innocenti, is leaving Spokane to play for Arizona State and first-year coach Randy Bennett next season. Innocenti, a former recruiting target of Bennett's at Saint Mary's, was the only Gonzaga starter to enter the transfer portal.