Cartier Diarra makes a name for himself as K-State point guard

So little was known about Cartier Diarra when he entered Kansas State’s starting lineup earlier this month that Kansas coach Bill Self didn’t know how to pronounce his name after he scored 18 points against the Jayhawks in a narrow loss at Allen Fieldhouse.

For the record: it’s Car-tee-A JAW-duh.

College basketball coaches and fans will want to remember that as Diarra continues to excel at point guard for the surging Wildcats. Many thought K-State was in big trouble when junior Kamau Stokes broke his left foot against Texas Tech on Jan. 6 and it lost his 13.4 points and 4.6 assists per game, but the team has been red hot with Diarra running the show.

K-State (16-5, 5-3 Big 12) has won five of its past six to join a logjam of teams at second place in the conference standings. Its only loss came to Kansas (17-4, 6-2). Avenge that defeat on Monday, and the Wildcats will be tied with the Jayhawks for first.

“He has been a great piece that we have always had,” K-State junior guard Barry Brown said of Diarra. “It was just tough with the rotation. Throughout this run, he has been great. He has been our starting point guard since Kamau went down. There hasn’t been a drop-off. He has been carrying the load, playing good defense and running good offense. I credit him for that.”

Diarra, a redshirt freshman, produced little as backup. But that changed when he became a starter. In his past six games, Diarra has averaged 13.2 points and 3.5 assists. Dean Wade and Brown have done the heavy lifting, but Diarra has occassionally put the offense on his back and created something out of nothing with his driving ability. His aggressive play was a big reason why K-State survived an upside bid from Georgia on Saturday.

He has exceeded most expectations, even though he envisioned this.

“I expect to win and we have been winning,” Diarra said. “That is my expectation. If I have zero points, 10 points or 20 points, if it’s a win I am happy. Winning is most important thing. I haven’t exceeded my expectations, because I expect to win. That is what we do.”

K-State coach Bruce Weber knew Diarra had potential when he recruited him out of Florence, S.C. The 6-foot-4 Diarra was a big-time athlete, but few major schools targeted him because he spent most of his youth training to become a dancer. He was still learning basketball in high school, and a knee injury forced him to sit out last season.

Still, he turned heads immediately in practice this season.

“He was killing it,” Weber said. “It was was like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ I asked my coaches, ‘Who should have the ball at the end of the game?’ And, at one time two weeks into the season, it was Cartier. Every coach — boom, boom, boom — in that room said Cartier should have the ball. Then you get into thinking and concepts. That probably overwhelmed him. He hit a wall. Now he has gotten through that and he has really figured it out.”

Stokes is nearing a return to the basketball court, and it will be fascinating to see how Weber eases him back into the rotation with Diarra playing at this level.

Until then, Diarra simply hopes to keep winning, and giving people reasons to learn his name.

“We are playing on a good high right now,” Diarra said. “We just have to keep this run up.”

This story was originally published January 28, 2018 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Cartier Diarra makes a name for himself as K-State point guard."