Utah Transfer Keba Keita Commits to BYU

BYU landed its first transfer portal addition of the offseason as Utah’s Keba Keita announced on his IG his commitment to BYU. Keba has two years of eligibility remaining. Keba is the second new addition under Kevin Young, joining 2024 signee Brody Kozlowski. He chose BYU over Mississippi State, Texas, Louisville, Wisconsin, Arizona State, Oregon, Kentucky, Kansas State, and others.

Keba is 6-foot-8, but is primarily a big man and plays bigger than his size due to his athleticism. Think of him as kind of a more polished version of Atiki Ally Atiki. Keita started in 13 of 35 games for Utah this season, averaging 8.3 points, 5.4 boards, and 1.1 blocks in just 16 minutes per game. According to KenPom, Keba was second in Pac-12 play in offensive rebounding percentage, 10th in defensive rebounding percentage, 5th in block percentage and 8th in fouls drawn per 40 minutes. Keba average just 16 minutes per game in part due to foul trouble; he averaged 5.3 fouls per 40 minutes.

Keba’s game and skill set complements Fouss. Fouss is more of a back-to-the basket, low-block scorer while Keba is a bigger threat as a rim runner and scoring second chance points. Keita will be BYU’s best rim protector and excels and covering a lot of space around the rim. He is an incredibly explosive athlete that will be able to compete every night with many of the front courts BYU will see in the Big 12. Kevin Young has said he wants a rim-running big in his system and Keba perfectly fits that description.

Some may scoff at Keba’s size and wonder how he can be a center. Size is obviously important, but many Big 12 teams excelled with smaller centers. Big 12 Champion Houston’s starting frontcourt was 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-7 and Texas Tech dismantled BYU in the Big 12 tournament with a 6-foot-7 guy starting at the five. Keba had some massive NIL offers from teams that all wanted him to play the five. I anticipate BYU to add one additional big, which could come via the international market.

You can watch highlights of Keba below.