This East Carolina guard just committed to Rhode Island basketball. Who is it?

The University of Rhode Island added more veteran men's basketball perimeter depth on Thursday.

The Rams received a commitment from East Carolina transfer Quentin Diboundje. He retains one season of eligibility and is the fifth expected new player to join URI ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.

Diboundje started his college career at Tennessee before a transfer to the Pirates. He spent the last two years at East Carolina, averaging 7 points and 1.9 rebounds in 47 games. Diboundje was limited to just 17 games last season after suffering an ankle injury early in American Athletic Conference play.

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Diboundje is a 6-foot-5-inch native of France who played at Florida power Montverde Academy and was a bit of a surprise commitment to the Volunteers. The three-star wing appeared in seven games with Tennessee before moving on. He was an immediate starter with the Pirates, playing his first eight games in the opening lineup.

Diboundje totaled eight games in double figures in 2022-23, including 17 points against Hampton in nonconference play and 18 points against South Florida in the league. He made 11 starts against league opponents, including in that home defeat against the Bulls.

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Dibounje was set for a major role in 2023-24 and delivered early, starting in eight of his first 10 appearances and hitting double figures three times. He popped for 27 points in a home win against Georgia Southern, closing 7-for-10 from 3-point range. Diboundje hit for 13 points in the league opener against Florida Atlantic before suffering the injury that limited him to just four games after Jan. 2.

Diboundje made his announcement on social media after a visit to Kingston. He joins Albany guard Sebastian Thomas, Nebraska guard Jamarques Lawrence, St. John’s forward Drissa Traore and incoming freshman Tyonne Farrell among the newcomers for the Rams next season. URI has gone through another couple of months of heavy roster turnover after closing 12-20 overall last year.

The Rams have retained leading scorers David Green and Jalen House, freshman duo David Fuchs and Cam Estevez and some developmental guard depth with Always Wright. They’ve lost two players who averaged more than 20 minutes per game last season in guard Luis Kortright (Washington) and forward Zek Montgomery (Bradley).

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Brandon Weston (Tennessee State), Jeremy Foumena (High Point), Tyson Brown (Georgia Southern), Connor Dubsky (UNC Asheville) and Rory Stewart (Florida Gulf Coast) made a combined 26 starts — 16 for Brown, 10 for Weston.URI still retains multiple open scholarships — the priority is to fill one of them with an impact frontcourt player. The Rams currently have Fuchs, Traore, Farrell and Green to feature in a smaller lineup. Fuchs started in 23 of his 25 appearances last season, averaging 8.2 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 57.1% from the field.

Head coach Archie Miller also shuffled his staff after assistants Kenny Johnson (Georgetown) and Christen Cunningham (Charleston) departed. URI hired former Ball State head coach James Whitford, a connection with Miller through their shared time at Arizona. Austin Carroll was the lead recruiter for Diboundje — he'll remain with the Rams alongside assistant coach Duane Woodward and assistant coach Ben Sander, who operates as the program’s chief of staff.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On X: @BillKoch25

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: East Carolina's Quentin Diboundje commits to Rhode Island basketball