Plenty of eyes have been on freshman forward Lamine Diane of Cal State Northridge, leading up to the Big West Tournament for the first time.

Originally from Senegal, Diane came to the states not knowing English in 2015 on a scholarship to play at Findlay Prep in Las Vegas.

"It was kind of hard," Diane said. "Before when I started to play basketball, I never thought I was like getting out there and have like this opportunity to play out here."

But he's made the most of his opportunities in a big way.

Now in his first year at CSUN, he’s been racking up the accolades.

He's been named Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year in the Big West, as well as the first player in the history of the conference to win all three awards in the same season.

His numbers place him second in Big West history, turning heads about his chances to play in the NBA, which his coach says is only a matter of time when that opportunity comes.

"The nice thing about this year [is] he's kind of put himself on the radar of everybody and you know if he can have another year or two like he's had this year, I think he definitely puts himself in the conversation," said Matt Gottfried. 

The conversation continues into the Big West Tourney in Anaheim on Thursday where the seven seeded Matadors will face the second seed Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara, looking to contain the conference’s player of the year.

His buddy and captain of the team, Terrell Gomez, shares All-Big West Conference honors with Diane and, he’s proud of the notoriety he’s bringing to the program.

"Out of Northridge, I think he’ll be you know the top three greatest players to ever come out of here, so that’s a great opportunity," Gomez said. "You know he could be one of the best to do it here.”

And then take those talents to the pros.

"My dream is to make it pro, so I think I’ll keep working on it til I make it," Diane said.