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Ex-Syracuse signee Moustapha Diagne awaiting a student visa in Senegal

2014 Adidas Nations

Kelly Kline

Getty Images

Moustapha Diagne was suppose to be an important piece for the Syracuse interior this upcoming season.

However, back in the August the highly-touted forward decided to enroll at Northwest Florida State College, the reigning JuCo national champion. At the moment, Diagne is still in his native Senegal, awaiting a student visa so he can attend college classes, according to a report from Donna Ditota of the Post-Standard on Wednesday evening.

To re-enter the United States on a student visa, Diagne must visit the U.S. Embassy in his home nation and present, among other documents, an I-20 form signed by himself and an official from the American college that has accepted him. Generally, it takes 20 to 30 days to schedule an appointment with an embassy official.

Applicants can request expedited processing, but DeMeo said Northwest Florida State preferred to allow the process to proceed at a normal pace to ensure all of Diagne’s paperwork was complete. Northwest Florida State supplied Diagne with an I-20 confirming his acceptance as a student.


Diagne was rated as the No. 77 overall recruit in the Class of 2015 by Rivals, part of a four-person recruiting class for Jim Boeheim along with Tyler Lydon, Franklin Howard and Malachi Richardson.

The loss of Diagne leaves Syracuse with a frontline of Lydon, Tyler Roberson, Chinoso Obokoh and DaJuan Coleman, who hasn’t played since Jan. 2014.

Without Diagne, the Orange also enter the season with only nine available scholarship players. Providence transfer Paschal Chukwu is the 10th scholarship player, but can’t play during the 2015-16 season due to NCAA transfer rules.

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