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 (appro ...

player. He was a member of the

Senegal national basketball team The Senegal national basketball team (French language, 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 ...

. 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. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

Early life

Sitapha Alfred Savané was born on 20 October 1978 in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, 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 '' Dic ...

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

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

(where his mother worked), moving to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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 which was established in 1947. Many members of the United Nations staff arriving with young families found unexpected difficulties with the school s ...

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

College

Savané attended the

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

, 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 List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference comprising primarily leading Private university, private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United ...

. 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 The 2000 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2000, at the Target Center in Minneapolis. It was the last draft held at the home arena of an NBA team until 2011; the following and subsequent drafts (through 2010) all took place at The Theater at Madis ...

(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 Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, especially in

CB Gran Canaria Club Baloncesto Gran Canaria – Claret, S.A.D., known as Dreamland Gran Canaria due to sponsorship, is a professional basketball club based in Las Palmas, Spain. The team plays in the Spanish Liga ACB and the Champions League. Their home venue ...

where he spent eight seasons. With Tenerife CB he won a Copa Príncipe de Asturias and a

LEB Oro The Primera FEB, formerly known as LEB or LEB Oro, is the second basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system after the Liga ACB. It is run by the Spanish Basketball Federation, FEB. The FEB leagues are divided into three categorie ...

, 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. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

. 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 , which operates in Spain. The service is distributed via optical fiber and ADSL as well as with satellites such as Astra. The pl ...

after his retirement.

Awards

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

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

(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 Senegalese emigrants to Spain Naturalised citizens of Spain Tenerife CB players United Nations International School alumni 21st-century Senegalese sportsmen {{Senegal-basketball-bio-stub