Cheikh Ya-Ya Dia

Cheikh Yaya Dia (born 20 March 1974) is a Senegalese former professional basketball player. After growing up in Dakar, Dia moved to the United States and he played high school basketball at St. John's at Prospect Hall in Maryland; he then went on to play 4 years in college at Georgetown, where he was named the Big East Most Improved Player in his senior season in 1997. After going undrafted in the 1997 NBA draft, Dia started his professional career in Uruguay. Throughout his career he has played in Uruguay, Argentina, Australia, Italy, Russia, Israel, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Dia was also a member of the Senegalese national basketball team, with which he won the gold medal during the 1997 FIBA Africa Championship and participated in the 1998 FIBA World Championship.

High school career Dia was born in Dakar, and growing up in Senegal he spoke French and Wolof. Dia's full name is Cheikh Yaya Dia, with Cheikh and Yaya being his given names and Dia being his surname. His middle name is also mistakenly spelled "Ya Ya" or "Ya-Ya", and some non-Senegalese sources erroneously cited it as a nickname.

Dia played mostly soccer in his childhood years, until he became taller than most of his peers: at 15 years old, he began playing basketball. While playing in Senegal, Dia was noticed by a scout, who suggested that he come to the United States, play one year in high school, and then sign with a college. In his only season there, Dia averaged 8.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game, playing as a center on a team that was named the 8th best in the nation by USA Today. In March 1993, Dia was named an Honorable Mention All-Area selection.

College career Dia signed to play for Georgetown in August 1993, in one of the few games in which he scored points: he averaged 1.7 points for the season, along with 2.5 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game. Dia also appeared in 2 games during the 1994 NCAA tournament, playing 1 minute (recording no stats) against Illinois, and 11 minutes against Arkansas, scoring 5 points and posting 2 rebounds.

In Dia's sophomore season another Senegalese player, Boubacar Aw, joined the Georgetown Hoyas. Dia received less playing time in 1994–95 (5.7 minutes per game), and posted career lows in points (1.6) and rebounds (1.8). In his junior year, Dia played all 37 games, always as a reserve, and improved his averages to 2.9 points and 3.9 rebounds, while shooting a career-high 53.3% from the field. During the 1996 NCAA tournament, Dia played 4 games, scoring 10 points along with 6 rebounds in the first game against Mississippi Valley State in 22 minutes of play. He then played the other three games averaging 1.3 points in limited minutes.

After the end of the 1995–96 season, Georgetown lost two of its main frontcourt players, Othella Harrington and Jerome Williams, and Dia was included in the starting lineup by coach Thompson, being named team captain. averaging 10.1 per game, leading the Big East in rebounds per game and total rebounds, posting 13 games in which he at least had 10 rebounds. Dia also recorded 10 games scoring double figures. and received the Big East Scholar Athlete of the Year award. The Hoops waived Dia in November, and he signed with Uruguayan club Aguada in early 1998. After one season in the Liga Uruguaya de Basketball, Dia moved to Argentina, where he played for Regatas San Nicolás. He appeared in 6 games with the club, averaging 11.8 points and 7.7 rebounds in 32.3 minutes per game. He then went back to Aguada in 1999, and averaged 19.1 points, 10 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game. In 2003 he signed for the Russian team Lokomotiv Novosibirsk, and played 28 games in the 2003–04 Russian Super League, averaging 15.5 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. In 2004 he moved to Israel, and joined Maccabi Haifa. He appeared in 11 games in the Israeli Premier League, posting averages of 14.1 points and 8.5 rebounds.

In 2005 Dia moved to another European country, Turkey: he appeared in 6 games during the 2005–06 Turkish Basketball League with Karşıyaka S.K., playing 22.5 minutes per game (4.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game). Later in 2005 he signed for Lebanese team Blue Stars of Beirut. In the 2005–06 Lebanese Basketball League he ranked 4th in the league in rebounding with 12.2 per game.

After playing in Jordan with Arena Amman, in October 2006 he went back to Australia and signed another contract with the West Sydney Razorbacks. In November 2007 Dia joined Belgrano de San Nicolás, another Argentinian club. According to Senegalese press agency Agence de Presse Sénégalaise, Cheikh Yaya Dia and teammate Boubacar Aw did not accept any call-up from the national team after 1998.