Kentucky's Mo Dioubate reveals how watching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Knox & others solidified his opinion about the Wildcats

Mo Dioubate transferred to Kentucky during the offseason after spending the first two seasons of his college career with the Alabama Crimson Tide. He emerged as a strong player this past season, averaging 7.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

On Friday, Dioubate sat down for an interview with Maggie Davis on BBN Tonight. In the interview, he spoke about joining the Wildcats. Dioubate did not receive an offer from Kentucky during his high school recruitment. However, he did get to play in Kentucky with Alabama twice.

In those games, he was reminded of watching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Knox and other Kentucky stars from 2017-2018. Dioubate also spoke about watching former Kentucky star Hamidou Diallo, who is from the same hometown as him.

"Watching him and how much he was worshiped where I’m from, it just made me like Kentucky even more," Dioubate said. "It made me love Kentucky even more."

Mo Dioubate went on to say that Kentucky was the school he always wanted to play for:

"A lot of people don’t know that Kentucky was my dream school. To wear the jersey now and to play with it — it’s the best thing that could have probably happened to me so far in my life," Dioubate said. "I always tell guys, don’t ever think you can’t achieve a goal or something. I even doubted myself a lot.

"I didn’t think I would ever play here coming out of high school with the schools I was offered and stuff, where I was projected. I just can’t wait to put on the jersey and to play in front of the fans."

Mo Dioubate has two years of NCAA eligibility left

Mo Dioubate has two years of eligibility remaining and will look to raise his draft stock. Although he broke out as a sophomore, he has not yet emerged as a star at the college level. The former four-star recruit will try to show he has NBA potential in his junior season.

He is joining a Kentucky squad that performed well after a coaching change before last season. Longtime coach John Calipari left the Wildcats to join the Arkansas Razorbacks. As a result, Mark Pope was brought in as his replacement.

Under Pope, the Wildcats reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019. With the addition of Dioubate, they likely have goals of an even deeper run in 2026.