Arkansas basketball was named one of five finalists for Arafan Diane, the nation’s top big man in the class of 2026.
Diane, 7-0 and 293 pounds, of Norwalk, Iowa, listed Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia and Houston in his top five, according to national recruiting analyst Joe Tipton.
He played for Iowa United on the Adidas 3SSB Circuit and led the league with 10.8 rebounds a game while averaging 18.6 points, 2 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game. One industry ranking lists him as a 4-star recruit, the No. 1 center and the No. 19 overall prospect in the nation.
Diane, who is originally from Guinea in West Africa, has offers from Arkansas, Kentucky, Kansas, BYU, Virginia, Indiana, Houston, Texas, Iowa, Illinois, Florida, Texas Tech, Michigan, Oregon and others.
Diane is scheduled to make the following official visits: Kentucky on Sept. 12–14; Arkansas on Sept. 19–21; Virginia on Sept. 26–28; Indiana on Oct. 17–19; and Houston on Oct. 24–26
Richard Davenport has covered recruiting for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and wholehogsports.com since 2007. He appears weekly on “The Morning Rush” with Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft on 95.3 FM in Fort Smith, 96.3 FM in Hot Springs, 104.3 FM in Harrison/Mountain Home and 99.5 FM in Fayetteville, and on “Out of Bounds” with Wess Moore and Joe Franklin on 103.7 FM in Little Rock.