UConn, Syracuse must look elsewhere after losing Diallo

Five-star shooting guard Hamidou Diallo picked Kentucky on Saturday night and he is planning to enroll immediately. While this is a huge get for Kentucky, how big of a miss was he for his other five finalists? Let’s examine where Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas and Syracuse now turn after missing out on the five-star.

STING RATE: 10

The loss of Diallo is a huge blow to Kevin Ollie and his staff. The Huskies were in on Diallo from the very beginning, were a constant presence at his games and had him on campus countless times. In the past few years, UConn has relied heavily on their guards, so missing out on a backcourt talent like Diallo is tough. An explosive athlete, Diallo would have thrived next to the playmaking Jalen Adams next year and it would have taken off some of the pressure on Adams to score.

Luckily, the Huskies should be OK in the backcourt next season. Adams should be back and combining him with point guard Alterique Gilbert, shooting guard Christian Vital and incoming four-star combo guard Makai Ashton-Langford means that there will be talent -- albeit young and short on size -- in the backcourt.

There isn’t a whole lot still available from the 2017 class, but one prospect to track is Eric Ayala. Ayala is currently ranked as a four-star prospect in the class of 2018, but he’s on track to graduate in the spring and may be leaning towards going to college in 2017-18 rather than taking a prep year.

STING RATE: 7

Arizona had actually planned to have Diallo on campus this weekend. For one reason or another, things went off the rails and Diallo shut down his recruitment and decided on Kentucky.

The west coast version of the Wildcats have been stung by a litany of on and off-the-court issues and while Sean Miller has done another phenomenal coaching job this winter, there is more work to be done on the recruiting front. Arizona already boasts the signature of Brandon Randolph, a top-50 senior, though more help is needed out on the perimeter. Diallo would have provided another scoring weapon that would have flourished in the up-tempo offensive system used in Tucson.

With the possible departures of Kobi Simmons, Rawle Alkins, and Allonzo Trier to the NBA, Arizona will now go all out in their pursuit of Brian Bowen. The five-star wing is finished with his college visits and tracking towards a commitment in the coming weeks. Arizona looks to be in good position with Bowen, but he’s no lock as Michigan State, Creighton, and Texas are right there in the mix for the high-level scorer.

STING RATE: 5

At one point, Syracuse was in very good position for Diallo. But recently, the Orange staff had a good idea that he would not be coming their way. Thanks to missing out on their top point guard prospect Quade Green, who also picked Kentucky, Syracuse has already been beating the bushes for possibilities in 2017.

Like UConn, we would expect Syracuse to look into the possibility of adding Eric Ayala and he was recently complimentary of the Orange’s efforts, “They weren’t recruiting point guards as much until they didn’t get Quade,” Ayala told Rivals.com. “They’ve begun to really start showing me some love lately, though. Me and G-Mac (Gerry McNamara) always have had a good relationship.” Because he was a teammate of Diallo’s at Putnam (Conn.) Science Academy, Ayala is a guy that has seen and heard from the Syracuse staff quite a bit in recent months.

STING RATE: 3

While Kansas was in the hunt for Diallo the past few months, the Jayhawks were never perceived as a leader for the five-star guard’s talents. Thus, the Jayhawks have been more concerned about finding their next lead guard recruit. The bigger sting occurred earlier this fall after they missed out on Collin Sexton, another five-star guard that signed with Alabama.

Would Diallo have helped Kansas in its pursuit of another Big 12 championship and potential Final Four bid? Sure. However, the staff in Lawrence has been pushing for a visit out of five-star shooting guard MJ Walker and they remain a dark horse candidate for Georgia scorer.

Where the Jayhawks really want to cash in, though, is with five-star point guard Trae Young. Bill Self has been very aggressive in his recruitment of the scoring machine from Oklahoma and was to see him again on Thursday. Many have considered Oklahoma to be the leader for Young, but Kansas is making a serious surge here.

STING RATE: 1

Indiana has been included in the final six for Diallo this fall and winter but in reality, there wasn’t ever much more than a slim chance that he would pick the Hoosiers. In fact, the Hoosiers have been much more focused on four-star swingman Jordan Tucker and those efforts have been rewarded as Tucker took an official visit and has the Hoosiers in his top two along with Villanova.

In the 2017 class, Tom Crean and his crew have already signed Al Durham and Justin Smith, two more backcourt pieces that can help in a variety of ways. While Diallo would have been very welcomed in Bloomington, he was never a priority and it’s Tucker who will likely make or break the Hoosiers 2017 class.