Yacine Diop, a three-year starter at the University of Pittsburgh and the Panthers’ 18th leading scorer in program history, has signed a financial aid agreement at the University of Louisville to play her final collegiate basketball season with the Cardinals.

“We are thrilled to add Yacine Diop to our team next season,” said head coach Jeff Walz. “Yacine is a talented player with a high motor that loves to compete and we saw first-hand just how good she is with her performances against us last year. She will provide added scoring, depth and experience, and will fit right in with our returning group.”

Diop started all 93 games of her career at Pitt and ranks 18th all-time in scoring with 1,093 points.

As a senior, she led the Panthers in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg) and four of her team-high seven double-doubles were against ACC opponents. She put up 24 double-figure scoring outings, including a seven-game streak to start the year and eight times scored 20 points or more. She was the only Panther to start and score in all 30 games.

She tied a career-high with 26 points at home against Louisville on Jan. 18, scoring all 15 points for the Panthers in the second quarter and finishing the first half with 19 points. She pulled down a season-high 15 rebounds against Duke (Jan. 28).

Diop sat out the 2016-17 season with an injury after starting all 31 games and finishing her sophomore year as the team’s second leading scorer with 10.4 points per game. She tallied 14 double-figure scoring games and led the Panthers in points a team-high nine times, notching a career-best five steals at Louisville.

As a freshman, she helped lead Pitt to a 20-12 record and a 51-40 win over No. 7-seed Chattanooga in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. She played in and started all 32 games during her rookie campaign and was third on the team in scoring (9.4) and second in rebounding (7.2). She earned Pitt’s first-ever ACC Freshman of the Week honor after putting up 22 points and 10 rebounds at Duquesne.

Diop was rated the No. 54 overall prospect and the No. 6 forward by prospectnation.com coming out of Seton-La Salle High School (Pittsburgh, Pa.). She averaged 12 points and 12 rebounds as a senior and led Seton-La Salle to a Class AA WPIAL and State title. She was named MVP of the African Cup tournament in 2013 as a member of the Under-18 Senegalese National Team after leading them to the African Cup championship.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and communications from the University of Pittsburgh. She is fluent in English, French and Wolof – a regional Senegalese language.

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@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

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