Tidjan Keita (born November 30, 1996) is a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Guinean Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

basketball player who plays

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 ...

for

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל באר שבע, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli football club from the city of Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The c ...

of the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional sports, professional competition in Israeli sports club, club basketball, making ...

. He also plays for the Guinea men's national basketball team.

Early life

Keita was born in Paris, France. He started playing basketball in Paris when he was 17 years old. He is 6' 10" (208 cm) tall, and weighs 205 pounds (93 kg). He has a 7' 3"

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

. He attended college and played basketball at

Cégep de Thetford Cégep de Thetford is a CEGEP, College of general and vocational education (CEGEP) in Thetford Mines, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 671 boulevard Frontenac Ouest. It was established in 1969. The Cégep de Thetford welcomes international stud ...

Thetford Mines Thetford Mines ( Canada 2021 Census population 26,072) is a city in south-central Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of Les Appalaches Regional County Municipality. The city is located in the Appalachian Mountains, 141 miles northeast of Montreal an ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada.Peter Tardif (October 29, 2017)
"How the Quebec town of Thetford Mines became a basketball hotbed,"
''CBC News''.

Professional career

2017-19

Keita played two games for the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

2017 NBA Summer League The 2017 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Eight teams participated in the wee ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, Nevada. In October 2017, the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

signed Keita; later the same month they waived him. In 2018-19 Keita played for

GET Vosges Golbey Épinal Thaon Vosges, commonly known as GET Vosges, is a French basketball club based in Épinal. The club currently plays in the Nationale Masculine 1, the third tier of basketball in France. Notable players * Eric Kibi Eric Mania Kibi ...

in the NM1 in France. He averaged 2.6 points per game. In 2019-20 he played for BBC Coburg in

Coburg, Germany Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...

, in the German

ProB The ProB is the third-tier level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 24 teams, separated into a Northern and a Southern Division. Officially, the ProB is part of the ''2. Basketball Bundesliga'', which consi ...

. Keita averaged 15.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

2020-present

In 2020-21 Keita played for

VfL Kirchheim Knights VfL Kirchheim Knights is a professional basketball club based in Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany. The team plays in the ProA Proas are various types of multi-hull outrigger sailboats of the Austronesian peoples. The terms were used for nati ...

Kirchheim unter Teck Kirchheim unter Teck ( Swabian: ''Kircha'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the district of Esslingen. It is located on the small river Lauter, a tributary of the Neckar. It is 10 km (6 miles) near the Teck castle, approximately ...

, Germany, in the German

ProA Proas are various types of multi-hull outrigger sailboats of the Austronesian peoples. The terms were used for native Austronesian ships in European records during the Colonial era indiscriminately, and thus can confusingly refer to the do ...

. He averaged 3.5 points per game. In 2021-22 he played for the Noma Iserlohn Kangaroos in

Iserlohn, Germany Iserlohn (; Westphalian: ''Iserlaun'') is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region. Geography Iserlohn is loca ...

, in the German Pro B. Keita averaged 14.3 points, 8.7 rebounds (5th in the league), and 1.6 blocks (5th) per game. The same season Keita then played for the

Niagara River Lions The Niagara River Lions are a Canadian professional basketball team based in St. Catharines, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Elite Basketball League. From 2015 to 2018, they were members of the National Basketball League of Canada. The Ri ...

in the CEBL in Canada. He averaged 5.7 points per game. On August 15, 2022, Keita signed a two-year contract with

of the

, and he has played

with the team since then.

International play

He played for the Guinea men's national basketball team in 2021 in the African FIBA World Cup Qualifier and the FIBA AfroBasket.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keita, Tidjan 1996 births Living people Basketball players from Paris French expatriate basketball people French expatriate basketball people in Canada French expatriate basketball people in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in Israel French men's basketball players Forwards (basketball) Guinean men's basketball players Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Canada Guinean expatriate sportspeople in France Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Germany Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Israel Hapoel Be'er Sheva B.C. players Niagara River Lions players Israeli Basketball Premier League players Cégep de Thetford alumni