Honors & Awards
- Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2022)
- Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2023)
2022-23 (Sophomore)
Blaise Keita (prounounced KAY-tuh) provided an interior presence to the Husker lineup in his first season in the program. He played in 21 contests, averaging 2.0 points per game on 51 percent shooting and 3.5 rebounds per game despite being limited for nearly all of Big Ten play because of an ankle injury originally suffered in the final non-conference game on Dec. 20.
Keita started NU's first five games and grabbed five or more caroms in four games. He posted his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Nov. 20 and had nine points and a season-high 12 rebounds against Omaha on Nov. 10. With the return of Derrick Walker to the lineup, Keita became NU's top post player off the bench. He had five points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes against Boston College on Nov. 30 and grabbed five rebounds in 12 minutes in the overtime loss to Purdue on Dec. 10. Following the ankle injury, Keita played just nine minutes over a five-week span until he played 11 minutes at Illinois on Jan. 31. Keita made a significant impact in two of NU's biggest February wins, as he had 11 rebounds in 23 minutes (all in the second half and OT) and two steals in the comeback win over Wisconsin on Feb. 11 and eight rebounds and a blocked shot against Maryland on Feb. 19. He suffered another ankle injury late in the Maryland game that sidelined him the remainder of the season.
Before Nebraska
Keita was one of the nation’s top junior college players after spending two seasons at Coffeyville Community College playing for longtime Coach Jay Herkelman. Keita was a four-star selection by Rivals and is ranked as a top-five JUCO player in the 2022 recruiting class by JUCORecruiting and 247Sports.
This past season, Keita returned from injury and helped Coffeyville to an 18-13 record. The team was just 5-8 before he returned to action in January and went 13-5 with him in the lineup. Keita averaged 12.8 points on 52 percent shooting and 9.8 rebounds per game. He had five double doubles on the year, including four of his final five contests. He grabbed 21 rebounds in a win over Seward County and averaged 14 rebounds a game over his final five contests. For his efforts, Keita was named second-team all-Jayhawk Conference and was a member of the all-defensive team.
He led Coffeyville to a 26-3 record and the school’s first national title since 1962 in 2020-21, averaging 10.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. The Jayhawk Conference Freshman of the Year and a second-team all-region pick, Keita shot 51 percent from the field, 73 percent from the foul line and totaled three double-doubles. His offensive production picked up during the school’s postseason run, as he averaged 14.8 ppg on 65 percent shooting, 7.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game in five NJCAA Tournament games. In the NJCAA championship game, Keita poured in a career-high 27 points on 13-of-16 shooting, and added nine rebounds and four blocks in Coffeyville’s 108-99 victory over Cowley County CC.
He played at Sunrise (Kan.) Christian on their postgrad team and played AAU with MOKAN Elite. Keita also represented his country at the international level, playing for the Mali U-19 team at the 2017 FIBA World Cup, averaging 10.2 points and 10.3 rebounds in six games. He grabbed 10-or-more rebounds in three of the six games, including 17 caroms in the tournament opener. Keita chose Nebraska over a host of schools including Baylor, Minnesota, Tennessee, Arizona State and Oklahoma State.
Personal
The son of Leonar Jean Piere and the late Kadiatou Diakité, Blaise was born on June 29, 1999, in Bamako, Mali. He has one sister (Justin) and one brother (Boubacar). Keita, who came over to the United States at 17, majors in human development and family science at Nebraska. Keita speaks three languages, Bambara, French and English.