Diedhiou: 'I'm here now, and I'm really excited'

Fans who arrived early at Williams Arena on Friday perhaps saw international freshman forward Gaston Diedhiou in action for the first time-- displaying a smooth-looking jump shot and dunking in shootaround.

But though the Gophers' advantage against Seattle stretched as great as 37 in the win, Diedhiou wouldn't get off the pine again.

It wasn't a huge surprise given that the newest member of the team hadn't gone through a singe practice yet.

"I'm not real tough but I need a guy to practice first before I'm going to play him," coach Richard Pitino said. "Maybe I'm a stickler. You've got to know one play. Just one."

It's been a long road for Diedhiou, who hails from Senegal but last played in the Canary Islands. The forward passed the NCAA Clearinghouse this summer but was denied by Minnesota's Office of Admissions. During this past semester, Diedhiou has been living on campus and working out on his own while enrolled in English intensive courses.

On Thursday, a second English proficiency test -- the blockade the first time around -- was approved by admissions, allowing Diedhiou to join the team.

The big man -- who has a fierce look on the court, even warming up, but was extremely nice and gracious to the media in the locker room -- said the months in limbo were the toughest part.

"I'm here now," he added, "and I'm really excited."

Post game, Pitino didn't want to commit to playing Diedhiou at all this year, but only because he literally has hardly seen the guy play live (he wasn't allowed to practice or work out with the team previously). Assistant coach Dan McHale traveled to watch Diedhiou play in Spain before the Gophers signed him, but Pitino only scouted him off of film. Leading up to today's shootaround, the Gophers put Diedhiou through a 25-minute individual instruction. Still, it's not enough to really know what he has, Pitino said.

"I didn't want to play him [on Friday] because if for whatever reason the guy loses his mind on the basketball court and then you burn a redshirt," Pitino said. "I'm going to approach it as if he's going to help our program. I just don't know. It's so hard."

The coach added that he didn't have many first impressions to give us just yet.

"He looks the part," he said, jokingly. "Made the all-airport team, but no. I've got nothing. Eventually. Patience. I'll give you a full evaluation on Monday."

In talking to Diedhiou after the 92-57 win, it also seemed like his English was pretty strong. He understood every question and spoke confidently with measured responses.

"I think it's pretty good," Pitino said. "It may be better than [Bakary Konate's English], to be honest. Bakary just tries to speak a million words in one minute. I think Gas probably is ahead of him, English-wise. But Bakary has got great understanding, great knowledge on the court which you just never know with guys like that."

The coaching staff is relieved to have Diedhiou, who is expected to be very raw still, aboard, but remains somewhat exasperated with the process.

Over the last few months, coaches, media and fans have watched a highly inexperienced Konate noticeably improve. Come Big Ten, that boost will make a big difference in the center filling a deep role on the bench. Had Diedhiou joined the team in September, as expected, he could be in the same position.

"I'm happy he's been admitted, but he's got a long way to go," Pitino said. "This is an uphill battle for him."