Syracuse, N.Y. -- Moustapha Diagne, the former Syracuse University recruit, has lost his junior college eligibility due to a difference in the rules at the NCAA and NJCAA levels.
The difference will force Diagne to sit out the 2016-17 season.
Like dozens of other college basketball players, Diagne decided to enter his name in the NBA draft this spring.
Diagne, a 6-foot-9 center, just finished his freshman season at Northwest Florida State Junior College. He averaged 10.2 points and 7.3 rebounds in just over 20 minutes per game and was named the Rookie of the Year in the Panhandle Conference.
He went the junior college route after an academic issue prevented him from enrolling at Syracuse last year. He was originally part of SU's 2015 recruiting class that also included Malachi Richardson, Tyler Lydon and Franklin Howard.
Richardson has also entered his name in the NBA draft, but the circumstances for Richardson and Diagne regarding the draft are quite different.
This year, the NCAA changed its rules regarding early draft entries. This year, college underclassmen can enter their names in the draft, go to the NBA combine and even work out for NBA teams and retain their eligibility. They can take until May 25 before deciding to remove their names from the draft.
The NJCAA, the national governing body for junior college athletics, does not allow players to enter the NBA draft.
By entering his name in the draft, Diagne automatically gave up his eligibility for the 2016-17 season at Northwest Florida or any other junior college.
"He won't be coming back to Northwest Florida,'' Northwest Florida coach Steve DeMeo said recently. DeMeo declined to offer any other information.
David Wilder, whose family hosted Diagne for three years as he attended Pope John XXIII High School in Sparta, N.J., confirmed that Diagne would not be eligible to play at the junior college level next season. He declined further comment.
It appears that Diagne has several options for next season.
He can pay his own way at a junior college and earn his associate's degree. He would then be able to transfer to an NCAA Division I school.
He can pay his own way at an NCAA Division school. In either case, Diagne would have three years of eligibility remaining.
He could go straight to a D-II school where he could play immediately.
Or he can continue to explore his professional options.
Diagne was not among the 70 or so players invited to the NBA's combine in Chicago this week. But he might have some professional prospects.
As a native of Senegal, he would have some value in certain pro leagues overseas that limit the number of players from the United States that teams can have on their roster. Diagne would not count toward that number.