Mo Dioubate is being recruited in the portal by a former Kentucky coach

Could Mo Dioubate go from playing for the student to playing for the teacher?

According to On3’s Joe Tipton, Dioubate recently conducted Zoom calls with Virginia and St. John’s. After spending his junior season at Kentucky, the 6-foot-7 forward elected to enter his name into the transfer portal, which opened on Tuesday, for his final college offseason.

It makes plenty of sense that St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino, who used to coach Mark Pope when the two were at Kentucky in the mid-90s, is interested in the physical, defensive-minded Dioubate. Dushawn London of 247Sports reports that Dioubate will take a visit to St. John’s on Monday.

Dioubate is considered the 72nd-best overall player and eighth-best small forward, per On3, to go into the portal so far this offseason. Tipton reports that Dioubate is scheduled to have more Zoom calls with other schools in the coming days.

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Kentucky transfer Mouhamed Dioubate recently conducted Zoom calls with Virginia and St. John's, source told @On3.

More intel on top transfers here: https://t.co/Sb9Xhplac3 https://t.co/DWuOnxmq6l pic.twitter.com/3SGAV93cZF
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) April 9, 2026

Dioubate spent his first two college seasons at Alabama, where he specialized in making effort plays and attacking the glass coming off the bench. His role at Kentucky in 2025-26 was similar, but he ended up being one of the Wildcats’ more impactful players near the end of the season. Dioubate posted per-game averages of 8.8 points and 5.5 rebounds, along with one block and one steal, in his 21.6 minutes for UK. He started 10 of his 31 games played while shooting 54.2 percent from the field.

St. John’s is an obvious fit for Dioubate in the Big East, but Virginia could be an attractive landing spot, as well. The Cavaliers’ first-year head coach, Ryan Odom, led the program to a 30-6 (15-3 ACC) finish last season, including a Round of 32 appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Regardless, Dioubate appears to have plenty of high-major interest.

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