the essential
It’s a colossus, a giant, looking down on you from its height of 2.08m. And if sometimes on the floor, he shows his opponents that he does not give in, Tidiane Badiane is a kind person, who speaks with a soft voice, who looks at his wife, Kaïla, with love, Abdulaye, his son, with pride .
At 28 years old, the Senegalese still has a few good years of basketball to live. His JIFF status (trained in France) opens the doors to French clubs. Those of the Tarbes-Lourdes Union currently.
How did you get into basketball?
It’s relative to my height. In Senegal, it’s mainly football. I didn’t know anything about basketball. My mother is very tall. And when I was eleven or twelve years old my uncle saw me and he introduced me to a coach, Jean-Charles, so that he could teach me the basics of basketball. That’s how it started. I loved this sport and I thought that with this I could help my family. I attended the training center in Ziguinchor, my village, and then an academy which trained the best young people in Senegal, from 2010 to 2012. And then, we went abroad. In the USA or elsewhere…
Why did you choose France?
I have always loved basketball in Europe. I arrived in Antibes in 2013, in my final year as a cadet. It’s a club that I really liked. Christian Corderas, the coach, helped me a lot. I had just arrived in France and I was a little lost. During my 2nd year, I even knew Tom Wiscart Goetz… The 3rd year Christian Corderas put me in touch with Julien Mahé who had the Gravelines Hopes.
But you had already won a French champion title…
Yes, I played with the U20s. And we were champions of France. I even beat Jo Boucaud who was in Boulazac.
And how did it happen in Gravelines?
It was my best season in Espoirs. I have progressed a lot with Julien Mahé. We had a very collective team and we had a lot of fun playing, and it was beautiful to see. In addition, we made the Trophées du Futur and we played in the final. Then I did the LNB camp, but in the first game, I injured my ankle, so I left the camp…
You’ve been international too, right?
With the Senegal Espoirs, we competed in the World Championships in the Czech Republic. But I was a little disappointed with this competition. The preparation had been complicated and too short, we had no means. When we started to get used to the competition, to winning matches, it was already too late. We were eliminated.
After that ?
I found a team, Saint-Quentin. I was with the pros. I was still considered a foreigner and could only play if an American got injured. So I was playing with the N3. But after 3 games, I fractured the scaphoid in my wrist, and then my season was over. So it was complicated. I hadn’t played all season, my residence permit had expired. I had a very difficult time morally. I was on the verge of going home. I contacted clubs, without success. What saved me was playing with the N3 against Maubeuge. I had a very good match. I tried one last time, before returning home, and I called Maubeuge who had gone up to N2. The coach, Emmanuel Hinfray, told me directly: “I saw you play, and I want you. » He handled everything for my papers. He made me feel comfortable, took care of me and then the president asked me what I like to do outside of basketball. I told him: the kitchen. He was the director of a college and enrolled me in the CAP as a chef, and after three years, I got the diploma. I played basketball, I studied at the same time… I will never forget the Maubeuge club.
Why did you leave him then?
I thought: why not give myself another chance by playing in a team that will play for the promotion or the play-offs and move up to N1? I signed for Etoile de Charleville. We made the play-offs, but Metz was ahead of us on goal average. But I left Etoile to go to Les Sables Vendée. And there too, it was very, very hard.
What happened ?
I had a good preseason, but afterwards I played less, although I had shown that I had my place if the coach had trusted me. So I took what was given to me even if it affected me. And then, in January, my wife was pregnant and we lost the baby. (Silence). From there, mentally it turned us off. I asked him to go to the United States to see his family. And I had basketball to manage. I didn’t want to show how much what had happened to us had affected me. I had lost everything, my confidence, everything… I had thought about stopping. My wife told me that she would follow me whatever decision I made, but she asked me to take another chance and if I found pleasure again, to continue. I signed in Tarbes.
For what ?
What saved me was that every time the Sables coach gave me an opportunity, I took it. Which means I found a club. Steph (Dao), like the Maubeuge coach, put me at ease from the start. And in relation to my teammates, I opened up, I did not hide that I had lost confidence, and they too, directly, integrated me into the group. I took advantage of all that. The more the season progressed, the more confidence I gained. And what’s more, outside, things are going really well. They are golden guys. They saved my season and now I can look forward to the future with basketball.
And a son arrived. It’s important, right?
It really boosted me. It’s a Source of motivation. My wife, my teammates, Steph, I owe them a lot for giving me back my confidence and putting me back on the right path in basketball. My goal now is to have fun and give back to them everything they gave me.
At the start of the season, it seemed that the Union’s interior game was not very good. But it got better. What do you think ?
At the beginning, we got to know each other basketball-wise, to see what each other could do. That’s also why it was difficult to win away matches. We explained ourselves, we tried to find each other, and it worked.
And now you are in the quarterfinals. It’s good, no ?
Yes of course. But we want to go further. We talked about it among ourselves. We want to go to the final. Now we meet teams we have already played against. So everyone knows what they have to do. You have to go there with the will. And at home, with these supporters, it’s magnificent. We’re not even talking about defeat. We want to win.
