Mark Pope and Kentucky have secured their third transfer portal commitment of the offseason. On Monday, Alabama transfer power forward Mouhamed Dioubate picked the Wildcats.

Dioubate, a Queens, New York native, who will have two seasons of eligibility to use at Kentucky, spent each of his first two college seasons at Alabama, playing for coach Nate Oats.

He will help bring much-needed physicality and athleticism to the Wildcats and is no stranger to playing in the fast-paced offense run by Pope at Kentucky as Alabama under Oats played at the quickest tempo in all of college basketball this past season.

Dioubate will become just the fifth in school history to play for Kentucky after transferring in directly from a conference rival, joining Sahvir Wheeler (Georgia), Maurice Bell (Alabama), George Zerfoss (Vanderbilt) and Twany Beckham (Mississippi State).

Jaxson Robinson, who played for Kentucky this past season, spent time in the SEC at Texas A&M and Arkansas but came to UK from BYU along with Pope.

Kentucky currently has two incoming transfers committed in Pittsburgh point guard Jaland Lowe and Tulane guard/forward Kam Williams.

Pope and the Wildcats are still on the market to add one or two more pieces via the portal, with another frontcourt player and sharpshooting shooting guard being the two biggest positions of need.

So far this offseason, Kerr Kriisa is the only 2024-25 Wildcat that has entered the transfer portal so far this offseason. Kriisa committed to Cincinnati Sunday.

Keep up with all Kentucky transfer portal news with CatsPause.com’s transfer portal tracker.

Here’s a close look at Dioubate’s prep career and initial college recruitment, his two seasons at Alabama and what those who know him best believe he will bring to Lexington.

Prep career and initial college recruit

Dioubate, a New York City product, played his high school hoops at the previous Putnam Science Academy in Putnam, Connecticut. The same prep school that former Wildcats Hamidou Diallo and Ugonna Onyenso attended.

He helped Putnam Science Academy win back-to-back National Prep basketball championships as a junior and senior.

As a senior, was named the Power 5 Conference Player of the Year, the New England Player of the Year and MVP of the National Prep Tournament.

Dioubate finished his time at PSA as the program’s all-time leading rebounder and as just the fourth player in program history with 1,000 career points.

In 2022, he averaged 13.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists this past summer for the PSA Cardinals on the EYBL circuit and earned EYBL First Team honors.

Dioubate earned four-star prospect status from 247sports in the class of 2023 rankings. He was ranked as the 104th best player in the nation, 22nd best power forward and the fourth best player in the state of New York.

He chose Alabama over offers from Maryland, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, Pittsburgh, St. John’s, Bryant, Duquesne, George Washington, La Salle, Rhode Island, Saint Peter’s, and Siena.

Alabama

As a freshman at Alabama during the 2023-24 campaign, Dioubate helped the Crimson Tide reach the Final Four for first time in program history, averaging 2.9 points and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 47.4 percent from the field in 33 games off the bench.

While he played a limited role, he did come up big in the Crimson Tide’s Round of 32 wins over Grand Canyon as he scored nine points, grabbed four rebounds, picked up two steals, and dished an assist.

This past season, he played in all 37 games off the bench, averaging 16.0 minutes of playing time. He averaged 7.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 61.7 percent from the field and 46.2 percent (12-for-26) from three.

Dioubate had two strong performances against Kentucky as he scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds in an SEC Tournament win over the Cats and went for eight points, eight rebounds, and three assists in a victory inside Rupp Arena.

He logged six double-doubles on the season, including going for 12 points and 12 rebounds against Florida in the SEC Tournament semifinals and 18 points and 10 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64 against Robert Morris. Dioubate scored a season-high 22 points in a regular season win over Vanderbilt, which saw him add 10 rebounds.

Dioubate’s 24.0 percent defensive rebound percentage ranked fifth-best in the SEC per KenPom, while his 10.8 offensive rebound percentage ranked 16th best in the conference.

What the experts say

(Photo: Gary Cosby Jr., USA TODAY Sports)

247sports’ Eric Bossi scouted Dioubate during his prep career.

“When Dioubate arrives on campus (at Alabama), he’ll already be pretty strong, but he’s got an ideal frame to build on in the weight room, and he’s going to end up as one of those shredded guys thanks to his shoulders and length,” Bossi wrote. “While it’s play in transition and on the interior that has been his calling card, Dioubate is a good-enough shooter from the mid-range and can be a mismatch problem for other four men off the dribble.

“However, his jump shooting and ability to attack off the dribble will be the two areas that he’s got the most room for improving and if he’s able to move up just a little in those areas, he could be a real problem before his time in Tuscaloosa is done.”

Dioubate earned among the most praise from his head coach, Nate Oats, during his time at Alabama.

“He exemplifies what we’re trying to build this program [around],” Oats said after a Feb. 1 home win over Georgia this past season. “We call blue-collar basketball and he’s as blue-collar as it gets. He’s all about getting stops. He’s not afraid to mix it up.

“We switch him onto point guards when we need to,” Oats said. “We play him on fours and fives, literally whatever it takes to win the games. And has never complained about minutes. We just explain to him what he’s got to do to get more minutes and he’s just, like, ‘alright, got it, coach.’ He nods his head and proceeds to do what you tell him to do so, absolute joy to coach. Really glad we’ve got him because the other thing is he teaches the other guys what we want…he’s not the most skilled kid on the team. We’re working on getting that better. I will say there are certain skills he’s pretty good at. I mean, you hit him in the pocket, and he makes pocket reads as good as anybody on the team. You get him going downhill, in certain situations he finishes at the rim better than anybody on the team.”

After Dioubate scored 10 points, grabbing five rebounds and blocking a shot in Alabama’s Round of 32 tournament win over Saint Mary’s this season, his teammate Chris Youngblood said,Mo’s been the key to our winning, our success all season.You win championships with players like Mo.”