It is a crummy situation, but Duke is making the best of it. While the Blue Devils did come out of it all right, especially after landing former San Jose State starter Walker Eget in the transfer portal, the Darian Mensah departure had to be addressed. Duke's former star quarterback left for the Miami Hurricanes, along with wide receiver Cooper Barkate in the 11th hour of the transfer portal window.
Diaz was asked about it during ACC Media Days, opting to take the higher road on the issue at hand.
"It's an unanswerable question because it ultimately came down to ... you can only say what you can prove," Diaz said. "So to me, it doesn't matter. That's why our issue was never with any other school. Duke was very consistent. The whole situation was simply about a contract that we just felt had to be honored. If it wasn't honored, what was the ramification of that? That is exactly what happened. All parties were satisfied, and all parties moved on."
Diaz would never admit Miami tampered with Mensah, but he did expound on the 11th hour narrative.
"I said this earlier with the 11th hour thing, there's not a solution for that. There's no way to say like, 'Had it been the day before...' Well, the portal's open when the portal's open. The emotion doesn't help solve it. To me, you're instantly like, 'Okay. What do we have to do who's available, and how do we solve this right away?' To solve this as quickly as we did was massive for us."
Diaz does seem to be really excited about what he has with Eget moving forward at Duke this season.
I asked #Duke head coach Manny Diaz if Miami tampered with Darian Mensah.
— Pat Welter WRAL (@PatrickWelter) July 17, 2026
"It's an unanswerable question....you can only say what you can prove." pic.twitter.com/AxrxGXvvtI
No matter who Diaz feels about all this mess, at least his team is still the reigning ACC Champions.
Manny Diaz is unable to really speak his mind about Darian Mensah move
Surely, Diaz was prepped on this question all offseason long. He is right in that there is no easy answer for it. However, we all know that he cannot really state how he feels about it publicly right now, and for good reason. Duke has a crown to defend, as well as a road date at Miami Gardens with the Hurricanes. Not only are they last year's national runner-up, but he also coached there not long ago.
What Diaz probably wanted to say was all about the nature in which Mensah and Barkate left Durham. Players move all the time in the era of the transfer portal, but it was all about how late into the cycle they left for Miami and how tough of a spot it put Duke in. Diaz and his staff did a great job of holding steady in trying times, but Eget is not on the same level of notoriety as Mensah is entering this year.
Right now, Duke enters this season with muted expectations, despite being the reigning conference champion. In a best-case scenario, this team might win nine games and get back to Charlotte to go defend its ACC title. If it hits the fan, this team may not even go bowling. The truth of what Duke will probably be lies somewhere in the in between. This is because Diaz is a phenomenal head coach.
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Overall, Mensah is going to be public enemy No. 1 in ACC play, or at least until someone spins a ridiculous narrative about him being a victim in all this, like Carson Beck supposedly was a year ago. What happens when the shoe does not fit? Regardless, Diaz has games to win and a reputation to uphold. He cannot let some transfer portal shenanigans ruin his steady climb up the coaching ranks.
There were many things Diaz clearly wanted to say on the matter, but he chose to be diploma
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