MIAMI (June 4, 2019) – FIU men's basketball Head Coach Jeremy Ballard has announced the addition of 6-foot-9, 235-pound forward Sedee Keita (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania/St. John's University/University of South Carolina/22 Feed Academy). Keita joins the Panthers as a transfer from St. John's University of the BIG EAST Conference.
Keita, who will enter the 2019-20 campaign as a redshirt junior, joins 5-foot-8, 160-pound point guard Tevin Brewer (Fort Smith Arkansas/Coffeyville Community College/Eastern Oklahoma State College/Northside Senior HS), 6-foot-4, 175-pound guard Blake Furcron (Romulus, Michigan/Pratt Community College/Walsh University/Elyria HS), 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard/forward Eric Lovett (Jonesboro, Georgia/Missouri State University West Plains/Jonesboro HS), and 6-foot-6, 220-pound guard/forward Dante Wilcox (West Palm Beach, Florida/Oxbridge Academy) as newcomers to the Panthers' program. The group is expected to make an immediate impact upon their arrival for the 2019-20 season.
"We are tremendously excited to welcome Sedee Keita to Panther Nation," said Ballard. "Sedee brings high character and a wealth of invaluable March Madness experience to our roster and he will be leaned on heavily as a leader to help our program take the next step in the postseason. Sedee has been a key contributor for two different NCAA Tournament programs at South Carolina and St. John's, respectively, which also includes a Final Four trip while playing at South Carolina. Sedee is the rare post player who possesses both perimeter skill and agility which will allow him to make a seamless transition to our system."
During his time at St. John's, Keita played one season for the Red Storm, after transferring from South Carolina and sitting out the 2017-18 campaign due to NCAA transfer regulations. While in Queens, Keita played in 22 games and made three starts in his lone year on the court with the Johnnies. He averaged 2.1 points and 2.0 rebounds-per-game and finished third on the team in total blocks with 20, while leading the squad in blocks-per-game with 0.9 rejections-per-outing. He matched a career-high with seven points against Providence (2/9) and grabbed a career-best eight boards in 18 minutes of action against Arizona State in the NCAA Tournament (3/20). Keita blocked a career-high four shots twice in BIG EAST play, once against DePaul (1/12) and once against Seton Hall (2/23).
Keita began his collegiate career at South Carolina, playing for FIU alum Frank Martin '93, and played one season for the Gamecocks during the 2016-17 campaign. He played in 29 games during South Carolina's run to the Final Four, averaging 9.6 minutes-per-game. He recorded 1.1 points and 2.0 rebounds-per-outing and finished fourth on the team with 11 blocks, two of which came against No. 20/17 Florida (3/26) in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. He also appeared in 14 Southeastern Conference games.
During his scholastic career, Keita was a consensus four-star, top-100 recruit in the Class of 2016. He was rated the No. 22 power forward in the nation coming out of high school. He attended Shannon Forest Christian School and 22 Feed Academy in Greenville, South Carolina.
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