Nov. 12, 2003

WACO, Texas - Baylor University has signed 7-footer Mamadou Diene to a national letter of intent, head basketball coach Scott Drew announced Wednesday.

"We are extremely excited to have Mamadou Diene as a part our Baylor Basketball family," Drew said. "Mamadou is the type of student-athlete that will represent Baylor University in an outstanding manner."

A native of Senegal, Diene is rated as the top NBA prospect in Africa and the sixth-best international prospect in the world by NBAdraft.net.

The analysts at HoopScoop Magazine said that if Diene were playing high school basketball in the United States, he would rank among the top 40 players in the nation. HoopScoop also reported that Diene was ranked as the top player in camp when he attended the Babacar Sy Basketball Camp in July.

Diene is Baylor's first signee of the early signing period.

BAYLOR SIGNEE:

Name        Pos.    Ht.-Wt. HometownMamadou Diene   C   7-0-210 Yeumbeul, Senegal