Badara Ndiaye (born 31 March 1986 in

Kaolack Kaolack (; ) is a town with a population of 298,904 (2023 census) on the north bank of the Saloum River about from its mouth and the N1 road in Senegal. It is the capital of the Kaolack Region, which borders The Gambia to the south. Kaolack ...

) is a Senegalese-born American and French visual artist, journalist, fashion designer, photographer, filmmaker,

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

, and former

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

basketball player.

Personal life

Ndiaye was born 31 March 1986 in

, Senegal. to Abdallah Ndiaye and Ndeye Ndiaye. His father is a well-known actor and a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. His mother is a women's rights activist. Among his siblings are two brothers. He played volleyball,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

(soccer), and basketball, among other sports he enjoyed such as gymnastics. He only began playing basketball at age 17. He describes his personality while growing up as reserved, but he was a member of his school's culture club. Ndiaye was recruited to play college basketball in the United States. He learned to speak English after arriving in the U.S. He studied sociology,

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

, and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

at university. He has worked with the United Nations (UN) and was recognized as a cultural ambassador of Senegal by Senegalese ambassador to France, El Hadj Maguette Seye. Ndiaye is outspoken in support of human rights for all. He particularly works to improve depictions of and the welfare of Africans, and the

Senegalese people Demographic features of the population of Senegal include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. About 42% of Senegal's population is ...

, as well as

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

peoples in general. He supports these in his art and statements, and for better treatment of LGBTQIA+ people, especially as it concerns stereotypes and representation of Africa and homosexuality. Ndiaye resides primarily in Paris, France and maintains a residence in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean ...

while traveling extensively worldwide. He learned several languages, being fluent in English, French, and Spanish, and somewhat proficient in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and some

languages of Senegal Senegal is a multilingual country: ''Ethnologue'' lists 36 languages, Wolof language, Wolof being the most widely spoken language. French language, French, is the only official language of Senegal, used mainly by the administration, the educat ...

Basketball career

Ndiaye attended secondary school at Fontiyon Tabl in Saint-Louis where he was MVP averaging seventeen points and six rebounds per game where he helped the team to a 2003 regional championship. He was discovered by an NBA program where the five best players of scores of dozens of countries are selected with which he attended a camp in South Africa. Ndiaye emigrated to the United States to play at Southeastern Community College (SECC) in

West Burlington, Iowa West Burlington is a city in Des Moines County, Iowa, United States, adjacent to the Mississippi River city of Burlington. The population was 3,197 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Burlington, IA– IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geo ...

from 2005 to 2007. As a Blackeye he averaged six points and four rebounds per game as a freshman and about one-and-a-half blocks per game as a sophomore, when he competed at the ICCAC Impact Sports Juco Jamboree and was recognized as a top prospect. He grew another to around age 21 and gained about of muscle weight in college. Ndiaye transferred to

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

(FIU) in University Park as a junior where he attended from 2007 to 2009 and played as a

Panther Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards ***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...

. A versatile big man, he played the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

position at SECC and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

at FIU. Plying for the Panthers Ndiaye ranked second on the team with twenty-one blocked shots and performed strongly rebounding while posting solid points, steal, and assist statistics. He suffered a knee injury which required

microfracture surgery Microfracture surgery is an articular cartilage repair surgical technique that works by creating tiny fractures in the underlying bone. This causes new cartilage to develop from a so-called super-clot. The surgery is quick (typically lasting bet ...

during his senior year, which ended his basketball career. During this time, he transitioned as a creative producer after he was discovered by

fashion photographer Fashion photography is a genre of photography that portrays clothing and other fashion items. This sometimes includes haute couture garments. It typically consists of a fashion photographer taking pictures of a dressed model in a photographic stu ...

Prescott McDonald.

External links

Badaraofficial Instagram

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ndiaye, Badara 1986 births Living people Senegalese men's basketball players Power forwards Centers (basketball) Senegalese expatriate basketball people in the United States Senegalese expatriate basketball people in France FIU Panthers men's basketball players LGBTQ basketball players Florida International University alumni Fashion journalists Male models Senegalese LGBTQ models African-American male models Fashion photographers Conceptual photographers Senegalese photographers Video artists Menswear designers LGBTQ fashion designers 21st-century Senegalese sportsmen