Skip to main content
Inside The Huskies

Through the Zoom Lens, Huskies See Local Guy, Greatness Coming

Vazoumana Diallo is a much anticipated player for Danny Sprinkle's first UW team.
Dan Raley|
Zoom Diallo, with family members, graduates from high school.
Zoom Diallo, with family members, graduates from high school. | Diallo

Power forward Great Osobor, with the landmark name, image and likeness deal, could be the difference between the University of Washington basketball team being good or, well, great. Guard DJ Davis comes to the Huskies as the nation's best free-throw shooter, which is a unique talent. Forward Tyler Harris, after playing just his freshman year, felt confident enough to enter the NBA draft before withdrawing his name.

Yet the most compelling and anticipated player on an almost completely redrawn UW roster could be guard Vazoumana "Zoom" Diallo.

Let us count the ways: Best nickname. Highest recruiting grade (5 stars). Gifted Player. Fun personality. Local kid.

"He is one of the best high school players in the nation," new Husky coach Danny Sprinkle said, "and will have an immediate impact on our team at the collegiate level."

Diallo comes to the Huskies after leading Curtis High School in Tacoma -- Isaiah Thomas' old haunts -- to a pair of 4A state championships and then spending his senior season at Prolific Prep School in Northern California.

He committed to Mike Hopkins' ill-fated UW staff late last December on an ESPNU telecast, choosing the Huskies over Gonzaga, Arizona and USC. He did so by holding up his young nephew and unzipping the toddler's sweatshirt to reveal a UW T-shirt beneath it.

He re-committed to Sprinkle's crew, deciding he still wanted to play his college ball near his hometown, which was a major personnel victory for the new coach.

"He is a terrific kid and has a magnetic personality, which is great to have as a point guard," Sprinkle said.

Diallo averaged 21.8 points per game this past winter for his California prep school. The year before for Curtis, he finished with a stat line of 20.2 points, 5.5 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals. He has a reliable jumper. He's an explosive dunker. He has star status written all over him.

"His quickness has allowed him to be an excellent scorer and facilitator," Sprinkle said.

Too many Northwest guards have come and gone in Montlake in recent seasons and flourished elsewhere, among them RaeQuan Battle, Koren Johnson and Marcus Tsohonis, with Battle joining Sprinkle at Montana State and advancing his game.

Mixing in with a lot of veterans, the only real question surrounding Diallo at the UW is how long will it take him to establish himself as a starter, the playmaker, as a standout college player? It might not take him long at all.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published | Modified
Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

Home/Basketball