March Madness has proven a compelling watch thus far, with some of the nation’s finest talents etching their names into the hallowed walls of posterity with standout showings.
There isn’t too much time left in the tournament. Just four teams remain after the dust settled: No. 1 UConn, No. 1 Purdue, No. 4 Alabama and No. 11 NC State.
Three of those four teams share a notable similarity: They house at least one Muslim player.
The Huskies (Hassan Diarra, Samson Johnson, Youssouf Singare), Crimson Tide (Mo Dioubate, Mohamed Wague) and Wolfpack (Mohamed Diarra) all possess practicing Muslim players.
These players’ religious backgrounds have come to the fore in recent weeks. The reason why? By and large, it’s Ramadan, and they follow strict guidelines for eating and drinking during the month.
There’s a whole cadre of Final Four talent set to take part in college basketball’s biggest games with less fuel than usual. They’re fasting for Ramadan, following the traditions set by their forebearers.
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With that, here’s what you need to know about the Final Four Ramadan fasts, a collective effort undertaken by Muslim players during the NCAA tournament to pay homage to their religious roots.
Final Four Ramadan fasts, explained
Mohamed Diarra, Johnson, Hassan Diarra and Singare are practicing Muslims. As such, the four adhere to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, a 29 or 30-day period in which able-bodied Muslims observe fasting and opt against drinking and eating from sunrise to sundown.
They’re one of a handful of players to have taken part in the tradition over the past few weeks. Alabama players Mohamed Wague and Mo Dioubate are also observing the practice, spurning food from the wee hours of the morning until sunset.
“It’s something I’ve been practicing since I was younger,” Dioubate told Tide Illustrated. “I’m not doing this alone. I’m doing this with other Muslims around the world, my brothers and sisters.
Playing basketball [while fasting] is hard, but I’m just trying my best to get through it. It’s not easy. I just leave all of it to God.”
What is Ramadan?
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, which varies from year-to-year based on the lunar cycle. It’s a holy month in Islam, filled with prayer, celebration, community and plenty of fasting.
Muslims traditionally fast from sunrise to sundown during each day of Ramadan. They tend to start the day by eating a pre-dawn meal (known as suhoor in Arabic) before praying fajr, the first of five daily prayers required for practicing Muslims.
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Singare explained that he wakes up as early as 4:00 a.m. local time to get his fix in for suhoor before sun rise. It can prove a challenging proposition, especially for someone caught in the midst of an NCAA tournament run.
“It’s really difficult, because when you wake up at, like, 4 a.m., after eating, you can’t eat until sundown,” Singare told The Connecticut Post on March 15. “It’s really hard to not drink, to not eat before the game.”
Nevertheless, Muslim players persist with the custom. For many, it’s a routine they’ve perfected since their childhoods.
“It’s not that hard, I’ve got experience, I’ve been doing it since I was 12 years old,” said Mohamed Diarra, according to Fox 8 Raleigh. “I’ve played sports all my life and playing with no food in my stomach is just a mindset.”
For others, it’s a way to connect with the Islamic community — both within American borders and beyond them.
“It’s a blessing to do it,” Dioubate said. “Not everyone can do it. Me being able to do this is a blessing. It’s a spiritual blessing for us Muslims all around the world. I take it as a blessing.”
Fasting on a given day ends with iftar — the meal eaten after sunset during Ramadan — after the call to maghrib prayer.
How long does Ramadan last?
Ramadan is based on the lunar calendar. Therefore, it lasts about 30 days. In 2024, that period started on the evening of Monday, March 11 and will end on the evening of Tuesday, April 9 — the day after the national championship game. That means the whole of the NCAA tournament, as well as a great many of college basketball’s conference tournaments, took place during Ramadan.
Those participating in Ramadan are permitted to eat iftar at 6:53 p.m. local time in Phoenix on Saturday. That’s 44 minutes after the tip-off of NC State vs. Purdue, but nearly two hours before Alabama and UConn are set to face off.
Final Four players participating in Ramadan
Here’s a complete list of the Final Four participants practicing Ramadan during this season’s NCAA tournament.
| Name | Position | School |
| Mo Dioubate | F | Alabama |
| Mohamed Wague | F | Alabama |
| Mohamed Diarra | F | NC State |
| Hassan Diarra | F | UConn |
| Samson Johnson | F | UConn |
| Yousouff Singare | F | UConn |
