Trent Noah on addition of Mouhamed Dioubate: 'I'm definitely glad he's on our side'

Alabama forward Mohamed Dioubate surprisingly entered the Transfer Portal following the 2024/25 season and opted to stay in the SEC, joining Kentucky‘s talented portal class (ranked No. 2 in On3’s transfer portal rankings).

Dioubate and the Crimson Tide defeated Mark Pope‘s Kentucky team in all three games (two regular season matchups and an SEC Tournament meeting) last season. In the three matchups against his future team, the Queens, NY native averaged 8.3 points and seven rebounds per game. His new teammate Trent Noah, who is one of four returning players from last year’s Kentucky team, spoke on the impact Dioubate makes on the team.

“I’m definitely glad he’s on our side now,” Noah said with a laugh. “I would not want to run into him… that’s for sure. We have so many guys that you can learn from, especially off last year’s team and then the guys coming in this year. These guys have started at a high-level so you can even pick their brains even though I played a year. I still have so much more to learn so I’m just sitting around, talking with them and gathering more information.”

The six-foot-seven, 215 pound forward spent his first two seasons as a premier bench piece for Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide. As an anchor for a program that reached the Final Four in 2023 and the Elite Eight in 2024, Dioubate averaged 5.2 points and 4.3 rebounds in 70 career games (0 starts).

“Mouhamed is a special young man who is a perfect fit for the way we play,” Mark Pope said. “He is a ballhandling, decision-making, physical, competitor. Mo can play and guard all five positions and has a presence as a point forward which makes him uniquely suited to play for us.”

The career bench-piece made waves following Alabama‘s loss to Duke in the Elite Eight by declaring that he was ready for a bigger role, which would end up ultimately being at Kentucky. “I know what I deserve on the court, and the other guys know that as well,” Dioubate said. “Next step is just being consistent with my shot, being more aggressive with the ball, making the right reads out of the pocket, being a good connector.”

Mo D is just one of six talented players making their way to Lexington next season via the portal (Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen, Pittsburgh guard Jaland Lowe, Arizona State forward Jayden Quaintance, Miami (OH) center Reece Potter and Tulane forward Kam Williams.