Tidjan Keita Explained

Tidjan Keita
Number:	13
Position:	Forward
Height Ft:	6
Height In:	10
Weight Lb:	205
League:	Israeli Basketball Premier League
Team:	Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Birth Date:	30 November 1996
Birth Place:	Paris, France
Nationality:	French-Guinean
High School:	Cégep de Thetford (Thetford Mines, Quebec, Canada)
Highlights:	also plays for the Guinea men's national basketball team

Tidjan Keita (born November 30, 1996) is a French-Guinean basketball player who plays forward for Hapoel Be'er Sheva of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He also plays for the Guinea men's national basketball team.

Early life

Keita was born in Paris, France.^[1] He started playing basketball in Paris when he was 17 years old.^[2] He is 6' 10" (208 cm) tall, and weighs 205 pounds (93 kg).^{[3] [1]} He has a 7' 3" wingspan.^[4]

He attended college and played basketball at Cégep de Thetford in Thetford Mines, Quebec, Canada.^{[5] [4] [1] [3]}

Professional career

2017-19

Keita played two games for the Toronto Raptors at 2017 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada.^{[4] [3] [6]}

In October 2017, the NBA's Phoenix Suns signed Keita; later the same month they waived him.^{[4] [5] [7]}

In 2018-19 Keita played for GET Vosges in the NM1 in France.^{[3] [8]} He averaged 2.6 points per game.^{[3] [6]}

In 2019-20 he played for BBC Coburg in Coburg, Germany, in the German ProB.^[3] Keita averaged 15.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.^[3]

2020-present

In 2020-21 Keita played for VfL Kirchheim Knights in Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany, in the German ProA.^{[3] [9]} He averaged 3.5 points per game.^[3]

In 2021-22 he played for the Noma Iserlohn Kangaroos in Iserlohn, Germany, in the German Pro B.^{[3] [10] [11]} Keita averaged 14.3 points, 8.7 rebounds (5th in the league), and 1.6 blocks (5th) per game.^{[3] [12]}

The same season Keita then played for the Niagara River Lions in the CEBL in Canada.^{[3] [2] [13]} He averaged 5.7 points per game.^[3]

On August 15, 2022, Keita signed a two-year contract with Hapoel Be'er Sheva of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, and he has played forward with the team since then.^{[14] [3] [15] [16] [17]}

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.^{[3] [18] [6]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: Tidjan Keita Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more. Basketball-Reference.com.
2. Web site: Keita solid for River Lions. Bernie. Puchalski. July 30, 2022. BP Sports Niagara.
3. Web site: Tidjan Keita Player Profile, Northern Arizona Suns. RealGM.
4. Web site: Suns Sign Tidjan Keita. nba.com. Tony Gautier. October 13, 2017.
5. Peter Tardif (October 29, 2017). "How the Quebec town of Thetford Mines became a basketball hotbed," CBC News.
6. Web site: Le Franco-Guinéen Tidjan Keita poursuit sa carrière en Israël. BeBasket. August 15, 2022.
7. Web site: Suns Waive Tidjan Keita. nba.com. Matt Petersen. October 14, 2017.
8. Web site: Epinal. Basket: le GET Vosges se sépare de Tidjan Keita. Vosges Matin. January 31, 2019.
9. Web site: Tidjan Keita verstärkt Knights-Kader . BARMER 2. Basketball Bundesliga. July 11, 2020.
10. Web site: Tidjan Keita: "Die wahnsinnige Teamchemie hat mich beeindruckt!". June 7, 2022. Iserlohn Kangaroos.
11. Web site: Tidjan Keita komplettiert den Kangaroos-Kader. July 27, 2021. Iserlohn Kangaroos.
12. Web site: 2021-2022 German Pro B Stats. RealGM.
13. Web site: River Lions Sign First International Player Tidjan Keita. February 8, 2022. riverlions.ca.
14. Web site: Hapoel Beer Sheva signed Tidjan Keita for two years. August 15, 2022. Time News.
15. Web site: Tidjan Keita s'exile en Israël. Dylan de. Abreu. August 16, 2022. BasketActu.
16. Web site: מנהלת ליגת העל בכדורסל | כדורסל ישראלי | עונת 2022-23 | הפועל אלטשולר שחם ב"ש/דימונה | טידג'אן קייטה. basket.co.il.
17. Web site: הפועל באר שבע החתימה את טידג'אן קייטה לשנתיים . August 15, 2022. וואלה!. אור שקדי.
18. Web site: Tidjan KEITA at the FIBA AfroBasket 2021. FIBA.basketball.