K-State basketball suffers major setback

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State freshman Cartier Diarra (Florence, S.C./West Florence) will miss the 2016-17 season after undergoing season-ending knee surgery, head coach Bruce Weber announced Wednesday.

A 6-foot-4, 185-pound point guard, Diarra went down with the knee injury during a workout earlier this month. After consulting with doctors, he underwent surgery on Wednesday (July 13) and will miss the 2016-17 season.

“We are obviously disappointed for Cartier,” said Weber. “He had worked extremely hard to get this point and had shown a lot of promise in workouts since joining our team in June. However, the focus now is on Cartier and his recovery. The good news is that he has only touched the surface of his potential on the basketball court and we look forward to seeing how he comes back from this setback.”

Signed by the Wildcats in April, Diarra helped West Florence High School to consecutive 19-win seasons the past two seasons, including a 19-6 overall record and a trip to the Class 4A State Tournament as a senior in 2015-16. He averaged a double-double of 18.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per game his senior season en route to earning Class 4A All-State honors from the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association (SCBCA).