Cheikh Yaya Dia (born March 20, 1974) is a Senegalese former professional basketball player. After growing up in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in ...

, Dia moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and he played

high school basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's ...

at St. John's at Prospect Hall in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

; he then went on to play 4 years in college at

Georgetown Georgetown or George Town may refer to: Places Africa *George, South Africa, formerly known as Georgetown * Janjanbureh, Gambia, formerly known as Georgetown *Georgetown, Ascension Island, main settlement of the British territory of Ascension Isl ...

, where he was named the Big East Most Improved Player in his senior season in 1997. After going undrafted in the

1997 NBA draft The 1997 NBA draft took place on June 25, 1997, at Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Vancouver Grizzlies had the highest probability to win the NBA draft lottery, but since they were an expansion team along with the Toronto ...

, Dia started his professional career in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Throughout his career he has played in Uruguay,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

, Australia,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

. Dia was also a member of the

Senegalese national basketball team The Senegal national basketball team ( French: ''Équipe de basketball du Senegal'') represents Senegal in men's international basketball and it is overseen by Federation Senegalaise de basketball, five time a gold medallist (in 1968, 1972, 197 ...

, with which he won the gold medal during the 1997 FIBA Africa Championship and participated in the

1998 FIBA World Championship The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation and hosted in Greece from 29 July to 9 August 1998. The tournament was contested by 16 n ...

High school career

Dia was born in

, and growing up in Senegal he spoke French and Wolof. Dia's full name is Cheikh Yaya Dia, with Cheikh and Yaya being his given names and Dia being his surname. His middle name is also mistakenly spelled "Ya Ya" or "Ya-Ya", and some non-Senegalese sources erroneously cited it as a nickname. Dia played mostly soccer in his childhood years, until he became taller than most of his peers: at 15 years old, he began playing basketball. While playing in Senegal, Dia was noticed by a scout, who suggested that he come to the

, play one year in high school, and then sign with a college. Dia accepted and left Senegal, settling in

, where he attended St. John's at Prospect Hall in

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederi ...

. In his only season there, Dia averaged 8.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game, playing as a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

on a team that was named the 8th best in the nation by ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...

''. In March 1993, Dia was named an Honorable Mention All-Area selection.

College career

Dia signed to play for Georgetown in August 1993, having already talked with the program's coaching staff during his recruitment process in Senegal. Under coach John Thompson, Dia received limited playing time as a freshman at 8 minutes per game; he scored 12 points against

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** ''University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the t ...

on December 18, 1993 in one of the few games in which he scored points: he averaged 1.7 points for the season, along with 2.5 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game. Dia also appeared in 2 games during the 1994 NCAA tournament, playing 1 minute (recording no stats) against

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

, and 11 minutes against

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...

, scoring 5 points and posting 2 rebounds. In Dia's sophomore season another Senegalese player,

Boubacar Aw Boubacar Richard Aw (born June 22, 1975) is a Senegalese former professional basketball player. After growing up in Thiès, Aw moved to the United States in 1993 and he played high school basketball in Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina; he then went ...

, joined the Georgetown Hoyas. Dia received less playing time in 1994–95 (5.7 minutes per game), and posted career lows in points (1.6) and rebounds (1.8). In his junior year, Dia played all 37 games, always as a reserve, and improved his averages to 2.9 points and 3.9 rebounds, while shooting a career-high 53.3% from the field. During the 1996 NCAA tournament, Dia played 4 games, scoring 10 points along with 6 rebounds in the first game against

Mississippi Valley State Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU, The Valley or Valley) is a public historically black university in Mississippi Valley State, Mississippi, adjacent to Itta Bena, Mississippi.frontcourt In the sport of basketball, there are five players play per team, each assigned to positions. Historically, these players have been assigned, to positions defined by the role they play on the court, from a strategic point of view. The three main ...

players,

Othella Harrington Othella Harrington (born January 31, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player. After he finished his high school career at Murrah High School, he played in college at Georgetown University where he teamed with future NBA superst ...

and Jerome Williams, and Dia was included in the starting lineup by coach Thompson, being named team captain. Dia received significant playing time, and in 32.2 minutes he greatly improved his rebounding, averaging 10.1 per game, leading the

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

in rebounds per game and total rebounds, posting 13 games in which he at least had 10 rebounds. He grabbed 14 rebounds in games against

Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...

and

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifi ...

, and he had a career-high 18 rebounds on February 26, 1997 against

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

, one of the best marks in Georgetown history. Dia also recorded 10 games scoring double figures. At the end of the season, Dia was named the Big East Most Improved Player, and received the Big East Scholar Athlete of the Year award.

College statistics

, - , align="left" , 1993–94 , align="left" ,

, 28 , , 0 , , 8.0 , , .423 , , .000 , , .333 , , 2.5 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 0.8 , , 1.7 , - , align="left" , 1994–95 , align="left" ,

, 12 , , 0 , , 5.7 , , .444 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.4 , , 1.6 , - , align="left" , 1995–96 , align="left" ,

, 37 , , 0 , , 12.8 , , .533 , , .000 , , .611 , , 3.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 2.9 , - , align="left" , 1996–97 , align="left" ,

, 30 , , 30 , , 32.2 , , .418 , , .000 , , .617 , , 10.1 , , 1.8 , , 0.6 , , 2.3 , , 8.1 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , , 107 , , 30 , , 16.2 , , .445 , , .000 , , .597 , , 5.1 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 1.1 , , 3.9 , -

Professional career

After his senior season at Georgetown, Dia was automatically eligible for the

. Dia participated in trials with several NBA teams, among which the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

, the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

and the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

. The ''

Courier News The ''Courier News'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey, that serves Somerset County and other areas of Central Jersey. The paper has been owned by Gannett since 1927. Notable employees *John Curley, former pre ...

'' from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

mentioned Dia as an NBA prospect in a February 1997 article. Despite interest from NBA teams, Dia went undrafted; he was drafted in the 1997

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA) draft, being selected in the 3rd round (29th overall pick) by the

Grand Rapids Hoops The Grand Rapids Hoops were a basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their first season was in 1989 and their final season was in 2003. Professional basketball later returned to Grand ...

. The Hoops waived Dia in November, and he signed with

an club Aguada in early 1998. After one season in the Liga Uruguaya de Basketball, Dia moved to

, where he played for Regatas San Nicolás. He appeared in 6 games with the club, averaging 11.8 points and 7.7 rebounds in 32.3 minutes per game. He then went back to Aguada in 1999, and averaged 19.1 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. His performances in Uruguay earned him the interest of the

West Sydney Razorbacks The West Sydney Razorbacks (known in its final season as the Sydney Spirit) were an Australian professional basketball team that competed in the National Basketball League (NBL). The club was based in Sydney, New South Wales. They were the s ...

, that signed him in July 1999, as the team needed a center. In the

1999–2000 NBL season The 1999–2000 NBL season was the 22nd season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 11 teams contested the league. The Newcastle Falcons folded and were replaced by the Cairns Taipans. Regular season The 1999-2000 regular s ...

Dia played 31 games, averaging 13 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. He stayed with the Razorbacks also for the following season, during which he posted 15.9 points, 9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. Dia left Australia in 2001, and played for Argentinian club Quilmes in the

Liga Nacional de Básquet The Liga Nacional de Básquet (abbreviated LNB, and literally in English, "National Basketball League"), also commonly referred to as "La Liga de Básquet" ("The Basketball League"), is the top-tier level of the Argentine basketball league system ...

: he averaged 15.7 points and 9.7 rebounds over 14 appearances. He then to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

for the first time in his career: in July 2001 he signed for

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

LegaDue Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian league pyramid, below the first division LBA and above the third division Serie B, with pro ...

side Sutor Montegranaro. With his new team he played 36 league games, averaging 16.3 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1 block per game, playing as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. In 2003 he signed for

n team Lokomotiv Novosibirsk, and played 28 games in the 2003–04

Russian Super League Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, averaging 15.5 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. In 2004 he moved to

, and joined

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Footbal ...

. He appeared in 11 games in the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested ...

, posting averages of 14.1 points and 8.5 rebounds. In 2005 Dia moved to another European country,

: he appeared in 6 games during the 2005–06 Turkish Basketball League with Karşıyaka S.K., playing 22.5 minutes per game (4.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game). Later in 2005 he signed for

Lebanese Lebanese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Lebanese Republic * Lebanese people The Lebanese people ( ar, الشعب اللبناني / ALA-LC: ', ) are the people inhabiting or originating from Lebanon. The term may al ...

team Blue Stars of

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

. In the 2005–06

Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League is the top-tier professional men's basketball league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketball Federation (FLB). Currently, the leag ...

he ranked 4th in the league in rebounding with 12.2 per game. After playing in

with Arena Amman, in October 2006 he went back to Australia and signed another contract with the West Sydney Razorbacks. He played 32 games during the

2006–07 NBL season The 2006–07 NBL season was the 29th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. For the first time, a team was established from outside the Australasian area, with the Singapore Slingers taking over the licence of the Hunter Pirates ...

, averaging 11.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. In 2007 he joined

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

team Halcones UV Córdoba of the

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional The National Professional Basketball League ( or LNBP) is the top professional basketball sports league, league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 10 teams. Despite its short history, the LNBP has established itself as the one of the ...

. In November 2007 Dia joined

Belgrano de San Nicolás Club Belgrano de San Nicolás is a professional basketball team in San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Argentina playing in the Liga Nacional de Básquetbol Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue ...

, another Argentinian club. After 12 games (11.1 points, 6.4 rebounds) Dia left the team and signed for

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

, where he played 7 games (5.9 points, 3.3 rebounds). He retired after playing with Al-Fateh in

National team career

Dia was first called up to the Senegalese national team in 1991. In 1997 he was part of the squad that won the gold medal at the 1997 FIBA Africa Championship. He then took part in the

, playing 5 games averaging 9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1 assist per game: he had a

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

against Japan with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and scored 16 points

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. According to Senegalese press agency ''Agence de Presse Sénégalaise'', Cheikh Yaya Dia and teammate

did not accept any call-up from the national team after 1998.

References

External links