Curtis guard Zoom Diallo is The News Tribune’s 2023 state player of the year

It wasn’t the first time John Kiley had to devise a defensive game plan against a transcendent talent in the state championship game.

Over 20 years ago, the Olympia High School coach had his Bears in the 1998 state championship game, facing Rainier Beach and Jamal Crawford, who went on to play for Michigan before an NBA career that spanned two decades.

Kiley had flashbacks of that game during this year’s Class 4A state championship game at the Tacoma Dome, where Olympia faced junior guard Zoom Diallo and the Curtis Vikings.

Diallo, one of the country’s top high school basketball recruits, has the same next-level factor that Kiley saw in Crawford all those years ago.

“He just has that different quality,” Kiley said. “Similar length, explosiveness. Just the next-level ability to make a play.”

Curtis came out on top, beating Olympia 49-43 in the final game of the four-day tournament at the Tacoma Dome this winter. Diallo scored a game-high 21 points and was named the tournament MVP.

Diallo led the Vikings to back-to-back 4A state titles, averaging 20.2 points, 5.5 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals this season. His elite ball handling, ability to stop direction on a dime, get to the rim at will and midrange pull-up jumper game gave opponents fits all season long. He’s a two-time 4A SPSL North MVP, The News Tribune’s 2023 All-Area player of the year and was named state’s Gatorade player of the year.

May as well add another accolade to the list — Diallo is The News Tribune’s 2023 state player of the year, too.

NEVER SPED UP, ALWAYS UNDER CONTROL

Despite all the defensive attention directed toward him, the added pressure of trying to repeat as state champions, the growing national attention and all the people who wanted a piece of Curtis’ superstar this winter — Diallo thrived.

“Just getting adjusted to all the pressure that’s on me,” he said. “Just not letting it get to my head, just continuing to play my game. It’s still a team game, no matter what. As much as opponents will be focused on me, we’re still going to play together as a team. I just grew with not letting the pressure get to me, just playing basketball at the end of the day.”

Curtis coach Tim Kelly said Diallo is always under control.

“I think it’s his pace of play,” Kelly said. “He’s able to get by anybody and get to the rim. He’s got a great pull-up (jumper). … He can get into the lane, he kind of comes to that stop and he really powers up off his legs and gets up over people. Tough to stop and guard, and of course he’s got length and he’s strong.”

Federal Way coach Yattah Reed — who joked it was too soon to talk about Diallo after he scored 25 points in a Curtis win over Federal Way in the 4A state tournament semifinals — has coached plenty of talented players, including current Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels. He said he thinks Diallo is up there with the best of them.

“You can’t rush him,” Reed said. “He does everything at his pace. You can’t rush him, you can’t rattle him in regards of trying to speed him up. You can’t get him out of his game. He’s going to get to his spots.”

Reed also noted that Diallo is an underrated passer.

“A lot of people don’t look at that as a skill,” Reed said. “He took over. That doesn’t mean him scoring every bucket. He did something on both ends of the floor that disrupted us and that’s impressive. We don’t see that in a lot of players at the high school level.”

Kiley said the 6-foot-4 guard is the total package.

“Changing pace, the ability to go left and right,” Kiley said of Diallo. “He’s really honed in on his craft. … He finishes so well. He finishes so well (left or right). That midrange — as they keep moving the 3-point line back — that ability to stop and that little fade, you can envision how he’ll be able to be effective (at the next level).”

After Curtis’ state championship win, Diallo spent some time near the baseline talking with former NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas, perhaps the best player to ever don a Curtis uniform. In some ways, it felt like a passing of the torch to Diallo.

There’s no shortage of people in Diallo’s ear these days, yet he remains driven, focused and working hard in the gym.

“I just go by the quote, ‘Keep the main thing the main thing,’” Diallo said. “I just tell myself that no matter what, I’ve still gotta play basketball at the end of the day. I try not to let it get to my head, I try to just stay in the gym because that’s what got me to where I’m at right now.

“Even though it does come, I just stay with my main principle of ‘keep the main thing the main thing’ and the main thing is basketball.”