Derek

UCF assistant coach Mamadou N'Diaye shopped himself and star center Moustapha Thiam to schools during the season, all the while still employed by UCF, sources say. N'Diaye insisted the duo were a package deal as N'Diaye's family runs the Flyingstar Academy in Senegal which helped facilitate Thiam's development and brought him to the U.S. N'Diaye demanded an above-market coaching salary, guaranteed for two years, which most schools passed on. Cincinnati agreed to pay N'Diaye's $1.6M demand (in addition to the $2M+ NIL for Moustapha). Cincinnati, a proud basketball program, has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2019. The seat is warming for UC head coach Wes Miller, who got a huge influx of NIL money this year in a last-ditch effort to turn things around. Thiam is considered a big piece to help doing so and hiring N'Diaye is the cost of doing business. Cincinnati chose to delay the announcement of N'Diaye's hire for a week because of "optics." And now you know the rest of the story. UCF vs. Cincinnati games will be a lot of fun next season!