AMHERST — Rashaan Holloway wasn’t aware Samba Diallo was making his first career start Friday until right before tipoff when coach Matt McCall wrote the starters on the whiteboard in the UMass locker room.
The fifth-year senior big man spoke briefly with the freshman during warmups before the game against Providence to give him a simple message. But he quickly found out, he probably didn’t need to relay the thought.
“I told him before the game, ‘Now you have to step up,’” Holloway said. “He shook it off like it was nothing and he proved himself. That’s all we can do. We can’t really baby anybody, if you can prove yourself that you can do it, you can do it, if you can’t, you can’t.”
Diallo tends to be an even-keeled guy and doesn’t blow accomplishments out of proportion. After the game, he shrugged off his first career start and did so again Monday after practice. He admitted he gained some confidence from his 10-rebound, 27-minute performance in the 79-78 comeback win over the Friars, but said it wasn’t anything he didn’t expect he could accomplish.
“Knowing that I was going to start, wasn’t even that impressive,” Diallo said. “I knew what I had to do and I just went out and did it.”
Holloway said Diallo isn’t much of a talker on the court, which is a bit surprising because he’s someone McCall said injects a lot of energy into the Minutemen. Instead, he inspires that confidence with his actions and surprising opponents by doing things many thought the 6-foot-7 forward couldn’t do at such a young age.
“Samba is an energy guy, but he don’t talk, he does it with his body,” Holloway said. “He might not say a lot to you, but he’s going to outwork you. That’s what people don’t realize, if you don’t box him out, he will get the rebound. That’s the factor he made in the Providence game, when they forgot to box him out, he just went up there and got it. There are things you might not think he can do that he can do, so he’s a problem out there.”
Diallo earned the start Friday and made the most of his opportunity because Jonathan Laurent was held out with a knee injury. He became an invaluable piece of the puzzle for UMass’ rally, helping to lead the charge defensively in his 17 second-half minutes on the court.
McCall said he had to give Diallo a little more leeway with his mistakes because of the lack of depth the Minutemen had at forward, and the second-year coach said he though that benefited the freshman. He said he felt Diallo grew more confident and played more aggressive as the game progressed, and he was able to overcome his earlier mistakes.
“I had to give him a longer leash in the game and let him play through and develop even in his mistakes,” McCall said. “Samba plays so hard, he brings that effort and intensity every single day. Offensively, there are times when he gets a little lost on the floor, but he was able to play through those mistakes and I thought that gave him confidence.”
The fact UMass doesn’t rely upon Diallo on offense is helpful to him, he said, because it allows him to put his focus on one end of the court. He said he is continuing to learn the offense and finding his spots better, but that he enjoys spending most of his energy on defense locking down his man and contributing with his rebounding skills.
“Being in opposition, knowing that’s something they don’t have to worry about with me is a plus,” Diallo said. “That means I don’t have to worry about that. But I still need to do what I need to do on the defensive end and help as much as I can on the offensive end.”
Diallo likely won’t start Wednesday when UMass (6-4) travels to face Temple (7-2) at 7 p.m. in Philadelphia. Laurent, the Minutemen’s starting power forward for the first nine games, is expected to return from the knee injury that sidelined him against Providence after going through a full practice Monday.
But when Diallo’s number is called against the Owls, his teammates will have some more trust in him than they had before.
“I saw maturity,” Holloway said. “Samba’s raw, but he’s talented. He gave me confidence and I’m pretty sure he put confidence in everybody. I have confidence in him to go in there and do what he has to do.”