But rather than turn off his social media notifications, ignore the headlines and turn down the volume, Diabate ingested all the negativity. He then converted it into fuel.
The promising junior with star potential now enters the 2021 season with a head of steam while hoping to bring his teammates along for the ride.
“If somebody’s saying something negative, I take that and use that as motivation to work and to go and do what I got to get done,” Diabate said.