Backup center Ismaila Diagne becomes fifth Gonzaga player to hit transfer portal

The only 7-footer on Mark Few’s 2025-26 roster is joining four other Gonzaga teammates in the NCAA transfer portal.

Ismaila Diagne, a backup center who appeared in 38 games over two seasons at Gonzaga, became the fifth scholarship player to enter the portal on Tuesday, multiple outlets reported.

The transfer portal had been open less than 18 hours when Diagne entered, joining wings Emmanuel Innocenti and Steele Venters and guards Braeden Smith and Cade Orness.

With five outgoing transfers and four outgoing seniors, it’s possible Gonzaga will return only four scholarship players from last year’s 31-win team and three who factored into the team’s main rotation: freshman guard Mario Saint-Supery, freshman wing Davis Fogle and junior forward Braden Huff.

Diagne, a 7-foot, 237-pound native of Senegal, signed with the Zags in 2024 after playing for the U-18 team of Spanish ACB powerhouse Real Madrid.

Diagne played sparingly as Gonzaga’s third big behind Graham Ike and Huff, but the center gave the Zags key minutes in a 95-76 win at Santa Clara on Feb. 25, 2025. With Ike and Huff in first-half foul trouble, Diagne came off the bench to score nine points on 4-of-4 shooting while grabbing four rebounds and adding a block and a steal.

The Zags went to Diagne on numerous occasions this season, mainly when both Huff and Ike were sidelined with injuries during a three-game West Coast Conference stretch against Seattle U, Pepperdine and San Francisco. The 7-footer started all three games and played 20 minutes in back-to-back games against the Redhawks and Waves, totaling 18 rebounds in a pair of wins.

Diagne offered solid rim protection, but only scored 64 total points in his two seasons at GU, averaging 3.4 points as a freshman and 1.1 as a sophomore. He averaged 1.8 rebounds in 2024-25 and 2.4 last season.

The Zags are losing Ike to graduation, but Huff is expected to return as a full-time starter in 2026-27 and Diagne may have struggled to crack Few’s rotation with 6-foot-9 forward Parker Jefferson coming off a redshirt year and 7-foot center Sam Funches – a four-star prospect from Mississippi – joining the fold next season.

With nine scholarship players on the way out and only three incoming freshmen, the Zags will have a number of areas to address in the transfer portal and could make additions at virtually every spot on the floor.

Although more than 1,000 college players announced plans to enter the portal over the last two to three weeks, coaches couldn’t begin making contact with transfers until the portal opened at 9 p.m. on Monday.