Podcast: Baye Moussa Keita's camp to benefit hometown in Senegal

For former Syracuse center Baye Moussa Keita, five years has passed by very quickly.

In 2020, Keita founded the BMK Camp in hometown of St. Louis as a way of reconnecting with his roots after he had been abroad in the United States for several years as both a college basketball player and an advisor in the NBA.

"When I went back, I saw the government wasn't doing a lot," Keita said on today's Juice on the Cuse Podcast presented by Rivals and Bleav. "Guys like me who played college basketball and worked for the League, I'm the one who has to make the change."

And so he set out to make changes, but it wasn't easy at first.

When Keita started the camp, he quickly learned he needed to build infrastructure on his own. The basketball courts all had potholes in them, making basic dribbling nearly impossible.

Other challenges included basic hygiene for the children who attended, which is mostly an afterthought in the United States.

In each successive year since then, Keita has raised awareness and successfully solicited donations from his network, which includes his second home in Syracuse. He's been able to provide campers sneakers and uniforms, and enough basic hygiene products to go around.

Now in year five, he has even more ambitious goals.

"(The goal) this year is to build a shaded area, a storage unit, and build two bathrooms, a boys and a girls room," Keita said. "I'm really excited about it. I'm trying to be the change. I'm excited to share with people and see how they can support me."

Keita plans on bringing at least six large bags filled with supplies back to Senegal. The airline allows for two bags at no extra cost, but each additional bag after that is $200.

He's set up a GoFundMe to centralize his fundraising efforts. Every dollar donated will go toward camp, including defraying his travel costs.

Keita attributes his altruism to his upbringing, both from his family in Africa, and also his family in Central New York.

"My parents tried to instill those (values), when you can help someone, you help them out," Keita said. "And it's a sense of community also in Senegal. You have to help your neighbors. Coach (Jim) Boeheim emphasized that, too."

Speaking of Boeheim, Keita still keeps in close contact with the team. He was back in Syracuse recently and got to see new head coach Adrian 'Red' Autry and the current team.

"I call them kids, I'm old now," Keita said with a smile.

Autry told his team to emulate the legacy that Keita had left.

Keita played without ego, doing whatever he could to help the team win, and made a big impact even if he didn't have gaudy statistics, Autry added.

The current team is 14-7, and fighting for NCAA Tournament consideration.

Keita has watched the games this season and is confident that Autry is guiding SU in the right direction.

"I'm looking forward to seeing what Red and the team are able to do," Keita said. "We know as former players that Red is a great coach and he's going to do great things for a program."

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