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Published May 3, 2017
COMBINE: Diallo scheduled to play 5-on-5
T.J. Walker
Basketball Recruiting Analyst

Kentucky redshirt freshman Hamidou Diallo was invited to the NBA Draft Combine last week and today it was announced he is scheduled to play on the five-on-five portion of the event.

It was unclear exactly what Diallo would do at the NBA Draft Combine and whether he would just go through measurements and individual drills, or instead participate in the five-on-five live scrimmages.

According to DraftExpress the list of participants, and the extent of their participation, has been released.

Diallo will join his former teammates De'Aaron Fox, Bam Adebayo and Isaiah Briscoe at the NBA Draft Combine. Malik Monk was invited but has elected not to attend the NBA's event hosted May 9-14 at the Quest Center in Chicago, the same place that hosts the McDonald's All-American practices in March.

Diallo enrolled at UK for the spring semester but opted to stay on the bench during UK's run to the Elite Eight and never saw game action. The 6-foot-5, 188-pound Queens native always said he would test the NBA Draft waters and hasn't signed an agent.

Diallo will have until May 24th to make a final decision on his NBA future and that will likely depend on how he performs at the NBA Draft Combine. Most reputable NBA Mock Drafts have him going in the second round.

It's not just playing at the NBA Draft Combine. Players will go through medical testing to showcase their health and will also interview with NBA teams.

Some invites were contingent on playing in five-on-five drills while others were just asked to interview, meet with doctors and go through measurements.

According to Draft Express Diallo will play in five-on-five drills, marking his first competitive live basketball experience since playing high school last fall.

Isaiah Briscoe will also join Diallo in live games. Bam Adebayo and De'Aaron Fox will attend the NBA Draft Combine but not play in any games.

Malik Monk joins a list of other stars that will skip the NBA Draft Combine. Not an uncommon occurrence for players expected to go in the top 10 of the NBA Draft, which is June 22nd.

Dennis Smith, Lonzo Ball, Jayson Tatum, Jonathan Isaac, Josh Jackson and Lauri Markkanen join Monk as college stars that will skip the NBA Draft Combine.


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