Local star officially leaves Washington basketball for Kentucky

Last June, Zoom Diallo stood in the corridors of Hec Edmundson Pavilion and stated that he returned to Washington because he didn't want his basketball legacy in the state he grew up in to end the way it did his freshman season.

Less than a year later, the former Curtis High School and Tacoma, Washington, native is now set to take his basketball talents outside the Evergreen State for the first time since his senior year of high school, with his agent confirming to ESPN's Jonathan Givony on Wednesday that the sophomore guard is transferring to the University of Kentucky.

Diallo started 51 games over the past two seasons for the Huskies and finished second on the team behind freshman forward Hannes Steinbach, averaging 15.7 points, and led UW with 4.5 assists per game in 2025-26.

As a freshman, Diallo started 22 games and made 31 total appearances for Danny Sprinkle in his first season at UW despite the team finishing 13-18 overall and 4-16 in Big Ten Conference play.

The departure of Diallo officially marks the end of his run as Sprinkle's floor general and opens the door for the staff to dive fully into the transfer portal to search for his replacement.

After leading Curtis High School to consecutive Washington 4A state boys basketball championships as a sophomore and junior, he transferred to Prolific Prep in Northern California for his senior year in 2023-24, his last out-of-state basketball experience.

Diallo marks the second official transfer exit for UW and the first starter of the six players from the 2025-26 season to enter the portal to find a new home. He also marks the first transfer addition for Kentucky coach Mark Pope, with the Wildcats' striking out earlier in the day on Wednesday when BYU transfer Rob Wright III elected to return to the Cougars after expressing interest in the SEC program.

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Former Washington Men's Basketball Local Star G Transfers to Kentucky