The 2019 Canadian Elite Basketball League champions have added a member of the 2020 C-E-B-L title squad to their roster for the upcoming 2021 campaign.
The Saskatchewan Rattlers announced the signing of Montreal product, guard Mambi Diawara. A U of Calgary grad, Diawara was a member of the Edmonton Stingers C-E-B-L championship team in last year’s Summer Series. He has, also, played professionally in Romania, Argentina and currently in Finland. The C-E-B-L has announced plans to start their third season of existence on June 5. Following is the news release from the Rattlers…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Saskatchewan Rattlers are excited to announce that 2020 CEBL Champion, Mambi Diawara will be joining the Rattlers for the 2021 season. The Canadian guard joins the Rattlers after spending the 2020 CEBL season with the Edmonton Stingers.
Diawara turned professional in the 2019-20 season and has since played for BC PH Miercurea Ciuc (Romania), Hispano Americano De Rio Gallegos (Argentina), the Edmonton Stingers and currently the Helsinki Seagulls (Finland). Over the course of his 32 professional career games, Diawara has averaged 10.0 points, 2.0 assists and 3.6 rebounds. The 6-foot-4 guard will look to continue to hone his skills in new surroundings when he joins the Rattlers for training camp ahead of the 2021 season.
“I’m excited to be a Rattler and get into Saskatoon for the 2021 season”, said Diawara. “I’m looking forward to a special year with this organization and I can’t wait to get on the court.”
The Montreal, QC-product finished out a stellar collegiate career after the 2018-19 season with the University of Calgary Dinos. Diawara originally started his collegiate career in Port Arthur, TX at Lamar State Community College. After playing out two seasons for the Seahawks, Diawara turned his focus back to his home country and committed to the University of Calgary. In three years with the Dinos, Diawara racked up awards and accolades on his way to a U Sports National Championship in 2017-18, where he notched the game-winning basket against Ryerson University. The guard was named to the Canada West All-Stars First Team as well as the U SPORTS All-Canadians Second Team in 2017-18. In 2018-19, Diawara was named to the Canada West All-Stars First Team as well as being named the Canada West Player of the Year. In his three years with the Dinos, Diawara averaged 17.4 points, 2.9 assists and 6.1 rebounds.
“We are happy to have Mambi join the Rattlers for our 2021 season,” said Rattlers GM, Barry Rawlyk. “Mambi is someone who shoots the ball at an impressive rate and can hit from multiple positions on the court. He is a high-percentage shooter that will add more scoring to the team. He is extremely versatile and someone that we can rely on in big moments both offensively and defensively.”
The CEBL is preparing for its third season in 2021 starting June 5, 2021 following the success of this past year’s CEBL Summer Series in St. Catharines, Ont., which saw millions of viewers across Canada and around the world tune in starting July 25 to watch 26 games played over 15 days in a single-site league competition. The CEBL became the first professional sports league in Canada to return to play after the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in mid-March shut down sports across the country. For more information on the Rattlers, visit therattlers.ca.
