Mamadou Diarra

Biography

Mamadou Diarra is in his seventh year as a member of the UConn support staff, his fourth as the Director of Player Development. He was been in his current roll since the 2022-23 season, helping the Huskies to back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. Diarra also spent one season as a student assistant coach and two as a graduate assistant. As director of player development, he has close interaction with the student-athletes, initiating, developing and participating in off-court activities that teach life skills. He also assists the team’s academic counselor with the scheduling and monitoring of study halls and organizes the team’s community events. Originally from Queens, N.Y., Diarra came to UConn as a consensus Top 100 recruit after graduating from Putnam (Conn.) Science Academy, leaving that school as a top five all-time career scorer, the second all-time rebounder, and second all-time shot blocker. He played 33 games for the Huskies before chronic knee conditions forced him to give up his playing career and pursue a career in coaching. Diarra graduated from UConn in May, 2020, with a degree in Urban and Community Studies and earned his master’s degree in Sport Management in 2022.