Fran Fraschilla thinks Cartier Diarra is too focused on pro basketball. Is he right?
Antonio Gordon threw up his hands in disgust. Xavier Sneed shook his head in disbelief. Levi Stockard rolled his eyes and flashed an annoyed look at no one in particular.
All three Kansas State basketball players were reacting to a technical foul that had just been assessed to Cartier Diarra for complaining about a no-call after the junior guard missed a heavily contested shot in the paint early in a 73-67 loss to Baylor on Monday at Bramlage Coliseum.
The Wildcats were clearly irritated with their teammate for needlessly compounding one mistake with another as the No. 1 Bears raced to an insurmountable 22-6 lead, but they let Diarra exit the game and take a seat on the bench without saying a word.
All the while, ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla didn’t hold back while he told a national audience what he thought about the situation.
“I don’t think his mind is with Kansas State,” said Fraschilla, a college basketball commentator who called the game Monday. “I really don’t. I think his mind is on playing professional basketball. This is a mistake for him. This is a mistake. He’s blowing a very good opportunity to be a very good player.”
That is harsh criticism. Question is: was it fair?
K-State basketball fans could probably have a healthy debate on that topic today.
This has been a disappointing season for Diarra, and it seems to be growing worse by the game.
Many expected Diarra to take a big leap this season and become one of the Wildcats’ best overall players. After two seasons of operating in the shadows of Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade, this was Diarra’s opportunity to help Xavier Sneed lead the Wildcats back to the NCAA Tournament. But things haven’t worked out that way.
K-State (9-13, 2-7 Big 12) is headed toward a losing season and its most recent defeat against Baylor (20-1, 9-0) was further proof of how far Diarra and the Wildcats have to go before they can regain relevance.
Perhaps his mind is in the wrong place.
“I think it’s tough for all young men that are going into their senior year, because they are worried about the future and we have talked about that with all our guys,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “You can’t worry about yesterday. You can’t worry about tomorrow. You have got to worry about today and it’s really a tough thing to deal with that, the future, the expectations.”
“I love these guys. I want them to be successful, but you earn that and you earn that through what you do daily. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen. It’s hard for kids to see that, because there is so much noise, so many people talking to them, and it makes it hard. It’s not just Cartier, it’s a lot of kids in the country.”
After starting in K-State’s first 18 games, Diarra is now coming off the bench. Weber replaced Diarra in the backcourt with David Sloan, junior-college transfer, at point guard and DaJuan Gordon, a freshman, at shooting guard. It’s telling that Weber would rather roll with an inexperienced backcourt than an experienced playmaker like Diarra, who has played in the Elite Eight and hoisted a Big 12 championship trophy.
Diarra remains the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer, and he drained a trio of three-pointers on his way to 11 points against the Bears. But he also lost four turnovers, took some ill-advised shots and got whistled for the technical foul.
“Cartier gave us a little better minutes,” Weber said, “but then don’t dance witht he ball. Play basketball, make the reads, the right plays.”
He is a talented basketball player with enough talent to lead his team in scoring while also helping his opponent with a plethora of mistakes. And his errors are on the rise. He already has more turnovers (75) this season than he did all year as a freshman (69) or as a sophomore (44).
Could some of that be attributed to his new style of play, which features more step-back threes and no-look passes than previous seasons? Might he be better off putting the team first and making more simple plays?
“This young man has outstanding talent,” Fraschilla said on the broadcast. “He’s been coming off the bench as of late. Listen, I like this kid. He’s a great story. But the body language …”
Diarra did not speak reporters following the game. K-State has not made him available for interviews since he was removed from the starting lineup four games ago.
It’s unclear what his pro aspirations are beyond this season, but this is his fourth year in college. No one will be surprised if he tests the professional waters in the spring or ultimately decides to turn pro, even if it means forgoing his senior year to play overseas.
That is becoming a common option for some players.
It’s impossible to say if that possibility is a distraction for him. But Weber didn’t defend him by saying it wasn’t on Monday.
“I have talked to all these guys all year about, worry about today,” Weber said. “Worry about every day and get better. I told Xavier (Sneed) today, ‘Smile and take a deep breath, enjoy it, you only get to do it once.’ You can’t control what is coming. It is going to take care of itself if you control today.”
This story was originally published February 4, 2020 at 12:25 AM.