Since the age of two in his Senegalese village, Mani Diop has had a soccer ball at his feet.
At the age of 14, Diop moved stateside, and initially attended high school at Pennington School in New Jersey before joining the Philadelphia Union Academy and enrolling in classes at YSC Academy.
Coming off a 7 goal and 6 assist season for Pennington as a forward last winter, the 6-foot-5 Diop was converted to a center back and appeared in preseason friendlies with Philadelphia Union 2 last winter and in a series of friendlies that kicked off after the end of the USL Championship season last fall.