With each day that passes, the excitement for 5-star center Sayon Keita continues to grow. From the moment he committed to Michael Malone and his staff, the hype has been growing. That has only continued in recent days, with the big fella impressing during Next Gen Euroleague play. His latest performance will have plenty of people talking.
The hype around Sayon Keita keeps growing after his latest insane performance
In a win for FC Barcelona over Next Gen 3SSB, Keita finished with 10 points, five rebounds and three blocks. This came after a similar strong performance not long ago that had people fired up. Well, need another reason to be excited about his future in Chapel Hill? Go ahead and take a look at the poster jam below. Yup, this kid is a special talent:
Sayon Keita is going to be fun at UNC. Should catch a lot of bodies next season. @UNC_Basketball pic.twitter.com/R8d8qAzQ48
— Tar Heel Trav (@travyyy06) May 23, 2026
Sayon Keita has UNC fans excited for his future under Michael Malone
Throw it down with authority, Sayon! Everything about that play above is pretty dang awesome. Keita went to the top of the key for a screen, rolled to the hoop, grabbed the pass off once bounce and then tossed down a monster one-handed jam. No one was going to stop him from getting this done.
Right after that, he gave a bit of a stare down to remind his defender that he owns the inside of the paint - gotta love it, as he's playing with some swagger as well. Earlier this year, shortly after he was hired as new head coach at UNC, Malone made his way to Europe to watch Keita in action and the wheels were immediately sent in motion for him to become a Tar Heel.
He ended up committing to UNC and he was quickly given a 5-star ranking from 247Sports. Now that he's going to be playing his college ball for Carolina, you better believe that people are excited to see him light up the hardwood in his overseas action, as he continues to turn heads in the best way possible. And watching him throw down a monster jam like this sure is awesome.
For now, Keita is expected to be the starting five for Malone next season, but that could of course change if Alexandros Samodurov ends up signing with the program. There's continued buzz that's going to end up happening in the near future, but nothing is finalized and there are still some things for Malone and UNC to get ironed out.
Regardless of if Samodurov plays for UNC or not, Keita is going to be a key contributor next season on both ends of the floor. He's got great shot-blocking abilities and he has a sweet touch close to the basket. That's exactly what UNC needs next year. Will there be some growing pains for him in Year 1 in the ACC? Of course, but the potential is there for him to keep developing with each game for this group. This kid is gonna make quite the splash for Malone soon enough, no doubt.
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