Sitapha Alfred Savané Sagna (born 20 August 1978) is a Senegalese retired professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He was a member of the

Senegal 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, 19 ...

. He played his entire professional career in Spain, most of it in the

ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

Early life

Sitapha Alfred Savané was born on 20 October 1978 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 2 ...

, Senegal, son to

Landing Savané Landing Savané (born January 10, 1945

and

Marie-Angélique Savané Marie-Angélique Savané (née Sagna, born 2 November 1947) is a Senegalese sociologist and feminist activist, who has been "an extremely vocal proponent of legal and social reforms in Senegalese society on behalf of women", according to the ''Dict ...

(née Sagna); his father (a Muslim) was a key figure in the Senegalese left-wing, while his mother (a Catholic) was a noted feminist and UN official. Savané lived for a while in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

(where his mother worked), moving 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 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at age fourteen. He attended the

United Nations International School The United Nations International School (UNIS) is a private international school in New York City, established in 1947. Many members of the United Nations staff arriving with young families found unexpected difficulties with New York's school sys ...

, where he caught the attention of the US Naval Academy.

College

Savané attended the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

, from which he graduated in 2000. In his junior and senior seasons, Savané was first team all

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...

. He also led Navy in scoring, rebounding, blocks, field goal percentage and steals. He originally planned to not attend Navy, but when his Service Time was shortened he reconsidered.

Professional

Savané went undrafted in the 2000 NBA Draft (although he was drafted 13th in the second round of the

USBL The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

draft). He spent however all his career in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, especially in

CB Gran Canaria Club Baloncesto Gran Canaria – Claret, S.A.D., is a professional basketball club based in Las Palmas, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. Their home arena is the Gran Canaria Arena. From 2012 until 2021, they have been sponsored by Herbalif ...

where he spent eight seasons. With

Tenerife CB Tenerife Club de Baloncesto was a professional basketball team based in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. History Tenerife CB was founded in 1996 after the fusion of some teams of the islands and debuts in LEB Oro in the 1996–97 season, the fir ...

he won a

Copa Príncipe de Asturias The Copa Princesa de Asturias de Baloncesto (English: ''Princess of Asturias' Cup of Basketball'') is an annual 2nd-tier level national cup competition for Spanish professional basketball teams, that is organized by Spain's 2nd-tier level professi ...

and a

LEB Oro LEB or Leb may refer to: * Lausanne–Echallens–Bercher railway, Switzerland * Lebanon, UNDP country code * Lebanon Municipal Airport (New Hampshire) (FAA identifier) * Lexham English Bible * Life expectancy at birth * Liga Española de Balonces ...

, promoting to

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

. He announced his retirement in May 2018.

Activity after retirement

Savané became a sports commentator for

Movistar+ Movistar Plus+ (formerly Movistar+) is the trade name of the subscription platform for digital television owned by Telefónica, which operates in Spain. The service is distributed via optical fiber and ADSL and as well as with satellites such as ...

after his retirement.

Awards

* ''Hijo Adoptivo'' ("adoptive son") of

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

(6 June 2016).

References

;Informational notes ;Citations

External links

ACB.com profile

Profile
CBGranCanaria.com

SportsIllustrated.com 2000 NBA Draft
EurocupBasketball.com Profile
1978 births Living people 2006 FIBA World Championship players CB Estudiantes players CB Gran Canaria players Centers (basketball) Joventut Badalona players Liga ACB players Navy Midshipmen men's basketball players Senegalese expatriate basketball people in Spain Senegalese expatriate basketball people in the United States Senegalese men's basketball players Spanish people of Senegalese descent Tenerife CB players United Nations International School alumni {{Senegal-basketball-bio-stub