After being drafted in the second round of the 2018 NBA draft, Hamidou Diallo didn’t forget his roots at John Bowne High School in Flushing, NY. The high flyer who won the 2019 NBA Slam Dunk contest is sponsoring an AAU team based in Queens called Diallo Elite to give student-athletes in the area, national exposure. NYCHoops.net caught up with Rob Diaz, the program’s Director to get more insight into the team.

“This is an idea that [Diallo] wanted to get started on this year to give a platform to some of the youth in our community,” said Diaz who is also an assistant coach at Bowne. This season, Diallo Elite will only have a 16U team but will look to branch out as the program takes hold.

The nucleus of Diallo’s Elite will be players from the PSAL Queens Borough champion John Bowne Wildcats, where Diallo attended as a freshman in 2015. Coach Diaz said that supplemental players will be added to complete the squad.

In addition to Diallo’s younger brother 6’5” Cherif Diarra ’21 the Diallo Elite includes:

6’4” Aguibou Balde ’21

6’2” Tyshawn Trail ‘21

5’11” Kyron Robinson (Our Savior Lutheran ’21)

5’9” Amadou Diallo ‘21

6’4” Jaiden Rodriguez (Our Savior Lutheran ’21)

6’1” Mussa Kone (Scanlan ’21)

6’2” Amare Bonas ‘21

This season, the Diallo Elite will participate in the Hoop Group series as well as some additional local tournament. “We’re gonna be unique. We're gonna be special and we’re gonna continue to grow,” said Diaz. “We’re talented and just want to get the buzz out there.”