Kentucky Visits With 2026 4-Star Center Arafan Diane

2026 big man Arafan Diane at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Rock Hill, SC in June 2025.2026 big man Arafan Diane at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Rock Hill, SC in June 2025. — 2026 big man Arafan Diane at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Rock Hill, SC in June 2025.

Arafan Diane is one of Kentucky’s top targets in the 2026 class. The four-star center received an in-home visit from the UK staff on Wednesday.

The 7-foot, 280-pound center from Iowa United Prep (Montreal, QC) told KSR+ that Kentucky head coach Mark Pope was in to see him on Wednesday evening.

Diane is set to take an official visit to Kentucky from Sept. 26-27. He also has visits set to Arkansas (Sept. 12-14) and Houston (Oct. 9-12).

Diane is down to a final 12 of Kentucky, Houston, Kansas, Purdue, Indiana, Arkansas, UConn, Virginia, Oregon, Washington, Georgia Tech, and Louisville. He is set to commit on his birthday, Nov. 19.

Arafan Diane’s Game

Arafan Diane of Iowa (IA) United Prep is ranked as the No. 1 center and the No. 18 overall prospect in the Rivals Industry Ranking. Rivals ranks Diane as the No. 9 overall player in the class.

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Diane earned an offer from Kentucky in mid-July after a solid performance with Iowa United on the Adidas 3SSB Circuit. He averaged a double-double across five games played at the 3SSB Championships: 21.6 points, 13 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.8 blocks per outing. Diane will be coached in high school by Mark Pope‘s brother-in-law, Damon Archibald, at Iowa United Prep this fall.

Kentucky Starting to Visit With Top Targets

Kentucky has started to check in on top targets since midnight on Wednesday. The staff got things started with Deron Rippey Jr. and Tay Kinney.

2026 five-star forward Baba Oladotun is being visited by Kentucky on Wednesday, his father told KSR+. Four-Star center Ethan Taylor is also expected to receive an in-home visit this week. KSR is keeping track of the full list here.

Kentucky has also set several official visits for the fall. KSR+ is tracking the full list here:

Sayon Keita: July 30
Maximo Adams: Sept. 5-6
Caleb Holt: Sept. 5-7
Cole Cloer: Sept. 17-18
Anthony Thompson: Sept. 24
Arafan Diane: Sept. 26-27
Cam Williams: Sept. 26-28
Deron Rippey Jr.: Oct. 3-5
Christian Collins: Oct. 3-5
Bryson Howard: Oct. 4-6
Ethan Taylor: Oct. 10-12
Josh Irving: Oct. 10-12
Jordan Smith Jr.: Oct. 10-12