Syracuse men’s basketball: Orange land 2025 center Tiefing Diawara

Orange add some insurance inside

Syracuse Orange men’s basketball finally has its big man insurance policy for 2025-26.

6 foot 11, 240-pound 2025 prospect Tiefing Diawara has committed to the Orange after playing last season for DME Academy’s postgrad team at St. John’s Northwestern in Wisconsin, per multiple reports. The 19 year old hails from Mali, and moved to the United States last year after playing for Orange1 Bassano in Italy for a few years.

The Orange are now up to 13 players, a five-man freshman class, and 11 newcomers to the roster, returning just JJ Starling and Donnie Freeman. Diawara is set to be the tallest player on the roster, and provide insurance and depth behind William Kyle in the frontcourt.

Diawara had been playing over the summer for Team Herro’s 17U squad on the Nike EYBL circuit, where he was teammates with 2026 Syracuse offeree Vaughn Karvala. In 11 games on the circuit, Diawara was averaging 4.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks.

He played at the 2024 Adidas Next Generation Tournament for NGT Paris, one of the top European youth tournaments. In that tournament, he averaged 4.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in 12 minutes per game.

While Syracuse will undoubtedly play smaller lineups with Freeman at the five when Kyle is sitting, a second true five man was a clear missing piece on the roster. With the portal thinning, and most of the NIL budget likely already committed, the Orange had to find a cheap option with legitimate size and projectable athleticism. Diawara fits that bill. He’s #12 in this video of a recent game between Team Herro and Team Takeover

Syracuse now has two spots remaining on the roster.