FRESHMAN FOCUS:Â
DB Jaydon Hill |Â
QB Jalon Jones |Â
OL Kingsley Eguakun |Â
LB Jesiah Pierre |Â
OL Michael Tarquin |Â
OL Ethan White |
CB Chris Steele |
OL Will Harrod
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Auburn-Opelika prep football rivalry
dates back to 1917 and is nearly as old as Toomer's Drugs. A former standout for Auburn High, Mohamoud Diabate has a special memory from his final game in the rivalry last August.
The story originated the previous evening when during a team dinner at a friend's house, Diabate shared how he hoped the game ended.
"I want this game to be close and I want them to have the ball at the end about to score and I sack them to finish the game,'' Diabate confessed.
His teammates questioned his sanity.
"Just watch. It's going to happen,'' Diabate insisted.
Sure enough, with Auburn leading 22-15 and Opelika at the Tigers' 39-yard line preparing for a Hail Mary on the final play, Bulldogs quarterback Cade Blackmon dropped back to pass. Diabate's heart raced when he saw the formation.
"This is exactly what I'm talking about,'' he said. "I look in the backfield and the running back is not on my side. They're crazy. Got off the line, cooked them. Got a strip sack and a teammate recovered. That's a good moment."
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Game over. And for Diabate, one of 10 tackles for loss and seven sacks in his senior season. Not long after Auburn's season ended, Diabate showed up at UF for the start of the spring semester in January to begin the next phase of his life.
A 6-foot-3, 219-pound linebacker, Diabate has big plans in football and beyond. Based on recent experience, he has a knack of making them come true.
In our final installment of the ongoing series to introduce Florida's nine mid-year enrollees on
FloridaGators.com, here is our Q&A with Diabate:
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Q: Why enroll early?
A: I had all my credits necessary to graduate early, so that and the opportunity to play early and come and develop myself this spring and see where I stand in the depth chart, I decided it would be a good idea for my development both athletically and academically.
Q: What do you consider a good spring camp for you at this point in your career?
A: I just want to work hard. I don't want the coaches to ever question my effort or question if I love playing. I want to give everything I got, be a good teammate and help with everyone. Do whatever I can to help the team out.
Q: Did you spend your entire childhood in Auburn?
A: I was born and raised in Auburn, Ala.
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  Freshman linebacker Mohamoud Diabate.
Q: What was it about Florida that pulled you away?
A: I just wanted to come to a more diverse place because I've just seen the same thing at Auburn my whole life. I wanted to go somewhere else to learn different things and grow as a person. I didn't want to stay in Auburn and hopefully one day, if I could be a first-round draft pick or something of that sort, then I go to a big city and I've never known what it's like to be away from home. I wanted to get used to being outside of my comfort zone. That's why I came here.
Q: Where does that big-picture perspective come?
A: My parents, they always told me to look 10 steps ahead.
Q: What do they do?
A: My dad is a professor and my mom takes care of us. [Diabate has three sisters]
Q: Any idea what you would like to study here?
A: Chemical engineering. I'm trying to be a petroleum engineer.
Q: What got you in that direction?
A: Basically, when I look for a job I wanted something that would pay me good and something that I could work in for a long time. I've always liked working with my hands, solving problems. I always liked math and chemistry. Engineering is a field that can mix all of those. And then I'm going to minor in business so hopefully I can get into the corporate side of the oil business.
Q: What field is your dad a professor in?
A: He is a professor of agriculture economics at Tuskegee University.
Q: Was he an athlete, too?
A: No, my dad wasn't an athlete. He used to be a vet back in Africa and he moved to America with my mom like 30 years ago. He moved here and started going to school. They weren't going to accept his vet qualifications from Africa so he started something new. He got his Ph.D. and now he is teaching.
Q: What really go Florida on the radar as a recruit?
A: My first visit that I came here I loved it. It was my first visit. I knew I was going to come here. I just didn't tell anyone other than myself and my parents.
Q: How has the adjustment been so far to joining the program?
A: I feel like I've already been here for a long time. It's not really as weird as I thought it would be. We have so much support. The hardest part has been keep tracking of assignments. I came from a really big high school with a really good weight program, so my body is really not shocked by this. The only thing different is having so much food available. I didn't eat like this. The last three weeks I've gained almost 10 pounds.
Q: What's something a lot of people don't know about you?
A: I'm a Muslim. Some people don't know that. I'm unapologetic about it. I'll argue with anyone about it. Somebody that says it's the wrong religion, I'll sit there and argue with you for three days if you want me to. I'm not a passive person. If I believe in something, I'm strong about it. If I believe that I'm good at this and you say I'm bad at it, I'm going to argue with you. A lot of times if people see my on campus they probably think that I'm angry. I just look like a mad person but I'm happy. It's just the way I look.
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