Mark Sears compares Mo Dioubate to Dennis Rodman -- "A skilled Dennis Rodman"

Kentucky fans got a good look at Mo Dioubate in Alabama’s three wins over the Cats last season. The 6’7″ 215 lbs. forward had eight points and eight rebounds in the first meeting in Lexington; four points and five rebounds in the game in Tuscaloosa; and 13 points and eight rebounds in the SEC Tournament. Even though we got a firsthand look at Dioubate’s knack for rebounding and defense (he shut down Otega Oweh in Tuscaloosa), his Alabama teammates believe he only scratched the surface of his potential last season.

“He’s a great teammate,” Mark Sears told Ben Roberts at the NBA Combine. “Go back to our Final Four run, he wasn’t playing a lot, but he still had a lot of high energy. And when he got his shot, he just always worked hard. … He’s a dog. He’s like a Dennis Rodman. A skilled Dennis Rodman.”

Forward Grant Nelson doubled down on that praise, mentioning Alabama’s game vs. Houston in which Dioubate pulled down 16 rebounds, five on the offensive glass.

“He’s relentless on the glass. It’s like nobody I’ve ever played against,” Nelson said. “So, I mean, you guys definitely got a great player — someone who’s gonna go out there and work hard. He single-handedly won us some of our biggest games this year. When we played Houston in Vegas, I think he had — like, I don’t even know — seven O-boards? Something crazy. And just every time he comes in the game, it seems like he’s finding his way to the offensive glass.”

Nelson even said that he thinks Dioubate will fit in well at Kentucky, given how similar Pope’s system is to the one that Nate Oats runs.

“I think he’ll be good there,” Nelson said. “I know they run kind of a similar offense to how Alabama runs. Just playing them, they’re similar — run and gun, they want to get a shot off as quick as they can, and then they crash the offensive glass, obviously, hard. So I think it will be a good system for him. I mean, no matter where he goes, I think he’ll be good.”

Dioubate won Alabama’s Hard Hat Award — given to the player who scored the most “blue-collar points” — nine times last season, three times more than the next highest recipient. Fifty-fifty balls plagued the Cats last year; Dioubate is the type of player who will be first on the floor to go after them. Sears said he’s expecting Diobuate to take a step forward with his offensive game as well, noting how the wing uses his physicality to get to the basket. Last season, Dioubate averaged 7.2. points per game on 47.4% from the field, 46.2% (12-26) from three-point range.

“He got more game,” Sears told Roberts. “He’s really got more game than what he showed (at Alabama),” he said. “So next year, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him come down, handle the ball, and hit ’em with a move and get to the cup. He’s a really physical driver, and he’s got some handle for his size.”

Mark Pope is also expecting big things from Dioubate, telling Matt Jones that he believes he is the player who will surprise fans the most this season. Once the cameras were rolling, he also told a story about meeting up with Dioubate’s mother in New York on Tuesday. Even though Dioubate is coming from a very successful program at Alabama, Pope said he and his family are beyond excited to join one with the prestige and tradition of Kentucky.

“You think about Mo, he’s coming from Alabama; Alabama was in a Final Four, in the Elite Eight, is a pretty good program,” Pope said. “Spending some time with Mo’s family, they get it too. It’s not just the guys who were coming from a mid-major. I mean, he’s coming from a really good program, but it’s already so ingrained in him how different this is at Kentucky than anywhere else.

“And he’s going to come here with — he’s a beautiful man. He’s a beautiful human being — but he’s going to come here and he’s not going to miss it either. Like, he’s going to take it all in, too, and so I think we have the makings of another group. Hopefully, it’s a staple for us forever, of guys who really understand what this is.”