Gonzaga coaches visit Zoom Diallo, 5-star 2024 basketball recruit
With the first recruiting period of 2023 officially open, the Gonzaga men's basketball coaching staff has taken the opportunity to visit numerous 2024 and 2025 recruits before the new season tips off.
Among the staff's visits included a trip to the Bay Area on Monday to see five-star recruit Zoom Diallo, who's been a top priority for Gonzaga for some time now.
Diallo, the No. 19 player in the 2024 class according to 247Sports, took an official visit to Spokane in January and was in attendance to watch the Zags demolish Portland at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
"They really install whatever their game plan is, whatever their system is going to be for that game; they really work on that with their guards in and out of practice," Diallo told SBLive Sports about the visit. "They’re really involved in developing their guards, and that really stood out to me."
Prior to the visit, Diallo revealed his original final six schools to be Florida State, USC, Arizona, Kansas, Gonzaga and Washington, though he replaced the Jayhawks and Seminoles with Kentucky and Texas in May. During the Under Armour Elite 24 camp in August, the 6-foot-4 guard told On3 that Alabama has also jumped into the recruiting mix, and an official visit could be arranged. In addition to Gonzaga, Diallo has visited USC, Florida State and Arizona.
Diallo set a deadline to make a decision by the fall heading into his senior year of high school, though there's still no clear-cut favorite to land the Tacoma, Washington, native. On3 gives Gonzaga the highest chance to land Diallo at 34.1%, while Rivals.com has Arizona at a 67% chance. 247Sports doesn't have a crystal ball prediction given that Diallo has apparently kept his recruitment open for the last several months.
After leading Curtis High School to back-to-back Washington high boys basketball state championships, Diallo transferred to Prolific Prep in Napa, California, for his senior year. He averaged 20.2 points, 5.5 assists and 4.4 rebounds in his junior year with the Vikings, vaulting him to the top of 247Sports' 2024 player rankings.
Now the No. 1 point guard in his class, Diallo will suit up for a program that's had a run of NBA draftees since it was founded in 2014, including Josh Jackson (2017), Gary Trent (2018) and former No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green (2021). The transfer clearly hasn't had an impact on his connection with Gonzaga, though.
In addition to their Bay Area trip, Gonzaga's staff reportedly took trips to see a pair of 2025 recruits in Isiah Harwell (Wasatch Academy, Utah) and Nik Khamenia (Harvard Westlake, California).
