Battled a series of nagging injuries that hindered his development and saw him miss three games last season ... is expected to compete for playing time at the power forward spot ... has the largest hands on the team, measuring 11 inches from the tip of his thumb to the tip of the little finger of his outstretched hand ... attended the same junior college - Kennedy-King College in Chicago - as Duquesne's 2003-04 leading scorer and rebounder, Elijah Palmer.
As a Junior (2004-05)
Played in 27 of 30 games with five starts ... averaged 5.2 points and 4.0 rebounds in 16.9 minutes per game ... had his top game of the season on Nov. 24 with 15 points and nine rebounds in a 72-69 loss to West Virginia ... suffered a grade two sprain of his right ankle in practice the day before the WVU game and spent game day on crutches, missing the afternoon shoot-around and most of pregame warm-ups ... ended up coming out to join his teammates with under 10 minutes on the pregame clock and gave the Dukes a huge boost with eight points and seven rebounds in 11 first-half minutes off the bench ... the ankle injury forced him to sit out the game at George Mason on Nov. 27 ... an unstable left shoulder forced him to the bench for the St. Bonaventure game on Jan. 23 and he missed the Mar. 5 UMass game after Fordham's Bryant Dunston accidently rolled on his ankle and knee in the second half of a game on Mar. 2 ... all five of his starts came in DU's first seven games ... reached double digits in the scoring column on four occasions, with the last coming at Robert Morris on Dec. 29 (11 points) ... 49 of his 109 rebounds came at the offensive end ... tied his rebound high in two of DU's last six games with 9 versus Temple (22 minutes) and La Salle (in 21 minutes).
Junior College
Kennedy-King College in Chicago, Ill. (head coach Garland Dildy) ... averaged 11.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game as a sophomore in earning NJCAA All-Region IV Second Team honors for 17-13 Kennedy-King ... shot 54.5 percent from the field.
High School
Tilden High School in Chicago, Ill. (head coach Darryl Dildy) ... averaged 18 points and 16 rebounds per game as a senior and 16 points and 14 rebounds per game as a junior ... played tight end and wide receiver for the football team where he started as a junior and senior.
Personal
Was also recruited by Minnesota, IPFW and IUPUI ... made official visits to IPFW and Duquesne ... his cousin, Darron Collins, was a second team All-SWAC linebacker at Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1999-2002) ... Collins currently plays fullback/linebacker for the arenafootball2 Arkansas Twisters ... Keith is a communication studies major ... full name is Keith Gayden ... born and raised on the south side of Chicago ... date of birth: 12/15/83.
