Men’s Basketball Welcomes Arafan Diané

HOUSTON – Arafan Diané, the nation's No. 1 center, will join the University of Houston Men's Basketball program after signing a financial aid agreement, Head Coach Kelvin Sampson announced Wednesday.

Diané, whose name is pronounced Air-Uh-Fahn Dee-Ah-Nay, will compete as a freshman beginning with the 2026-27 season and have four years of eligibility.

Wednesday was a busy day for the newest Cougar. In addition to signing with the nation's second-ranked team, Diané also celebrated his 18^th birthday.

Diané was ranked as the No. 1 center at Iowa United Prep and among the Top 25 players nationally by 247Sports and On3. The Conakry, Guinea, native was ranked at No. 21 in the ESPN100 and as the No. 2 center nationally.

This marked the second straight season in which Sampson and his coaching staff signed the nation's top center. A year ago, current freshman Chris Cenac Jr. joined the Cougars out of Link Academy in Branson, Mo.

"We established a great connection and relationship with Arafan. His size is obvious. He has long arms and plays bigger than his size. He can play outside. He can handle the ball like Jojo (Joseph Tugler) or J'Wan (Roberts) or Josh Carlton. Arafan is a mixture of all those guys. He can score in the post, he has great hands and is a good passer with a basketball IQ," Sampson said. "Arafan is a player we can develop into a good college player. If he continues to work, there will be a job for him after that somewhere."

"Arafan is a play-making big. He can score at the big position, but he also makes plays at the big position," said Alexandre Victor, co-founder and president of Iowa United Prep with Iowa United Basketball. "Off the court, Arafan is very grounded with strong values and is very competitive in everything that he does. He is quiet and doesn't like attention. He doesn't want to be a celebrity. Arafan just wants to win basketball games and go home."

Earlier this month, Diané was named to the Preseason MaxPreps All-America Second Team.

As a junior during the 2024-25 season, Diané averaged 13.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game on 52.0 percent shooting from the field during a National Basketball Players Association Top 100 Camp in Rock Hill, S.C.

He posted 16.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game for Iowa United on the adidas 3SSB Circuit during the season.

In seven games at the 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup in Türkiye, Diané averaged 19.1 points and 11.7 rebounds per game for Team Guinea. He led all players at the tournament with his rebounding average and finished fourth with his scoring total.

He scored 28 points with 13 rebounds to lead Team Guinea to a 101-92 win over China in his first game at that event and followed with a 23-point, 18-rebound performance against Germany.

Before coming to the United States, Diané played at Dynastie Prep in Montreal, Canada, from 2021 to 2024.

He was recruited by Arkansas, Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Creighton, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami (Fla.), Minnesota, Oregon, Purdue, UCF, UConn, VCU, Virginia and West Virginia.

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UP NEXT
• The Cougars return to Fertitta Center to play host to Rider at 8 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 20. That game will air on TNT.
• Houston then heads to Las Vegas to compete at the Players Era Championship on Nov. 24-26.
• The Cougars open the prestigious event at 5 p.m. (CST), Nov. 24, against Syracuse before facing #20/17 Tennessee at 5 p.m. (CST), Nov. 25.
• Houston's final Players Era Championship opponent will be determined by results from the first two days.
• All Houston Men's Basketball games can be heard on 950 AM KPRC, the Varsity Network app and Sirius XM Radio.

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Chris Cenac Jr.

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