General | 5/18/2023 8:01:00 PM
"I attended BMCC because of its location, diversity, resources, athletic facilities, and most importantly, its men's soccer program. Soccer is my first love, and I loved the school's slogan, "Start Here, Go Anywhere." Hearing that made me feel like this was the best place to begin my academic and athletic pursuits." As a student-athlete, I have learned the setting and working tirelessly toward achieving goals, and BMCC helped me accomplish that every step of the way on the soccer field and in the classroom."
– El Hadji Ady Gaye (CUNYAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year)
Queens, New York – On Thursday evening, The City University of New York Athletic Conference announced the Scholar-Athletes of the Year for the 2022-23 Athletic season recognizing the best student-athletes for their hard work in the classroom during their respective seasons. After putting together an outstanding effort on the soccer field and in the classroom, Borough of Manhattan Community College men's soccer player El Hadji Ady Gaye (Dakar, Senegal) became the 19th athlete in school history to be named CUNYAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Gaye is the first member of the Panthers men's soccer team to receive it since Lamarana Diallo received it after the 2019-20 season.
"El Hadji embodies what it is to be a student-athlete, and academic and athletic prowess is second to none," said Matthew Ruiz, Director of Athletics & Recreation at BMCC. "It was an honor to watch El Hadji succeed on the pitch and in the classroom. He has set the bar for what we want all of our student-athletes to achieve."
"It is great to see El Hadji get honored with this award that recognizes all of the effort he has put in to school and the team over the past few years," said Dakota Olson, BMCC Assistant Director of Athletics & Recreation. "He has a very bright future ahead of him and I truly believe he can accomplish anything he sets his mind to."
From the time he arrived on campus at Borough of Manhattan Community College in the Fall of 2019, Gaye made an immediate impact on the field and in the classroom. After learning about Gaye's road to BMCC, it wasn't a surprise the heights he would reach from day one.
"Coming from Senegal, West Africa, with a high school diploma, I planned to go to college immediately and continue my studies. Unfortunately, my path did not go the way I had planned. As an international student, I didn't understand English very well when I came to the US in 2016. I wanted to attend college and had to learn English, but after three years, I finally established a path toward it by buying a TOEFL book and studying English on my own for six months without any testing preparation and passed the exam allowing me to apply to college."
Gaye has never looked back as the Engineering Science major has performed exceptionally in the classroom, maintaining a 3.98 cumulative grade point average and earning a spot on the Dean's list honors two times during four of his semesters at BMCC. The academic accolades wouldn't stop there, as Gaye received BMCC Foundation Inc. Scholarship honors three times in 2019, 2021, and 2022 along with 2022 CUNYAC Fall Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll honors.
In addition to his studies and athletics, Gaye served his classmates and other BMCC students as an Academic Tutor in mathematics.
"Being a student-athlete has taught me the importance of setting and working tirelessly toward achieving goals. Despite the circumstances, anything is possible with dedication, hard work, and a positive mindset."
As a two-year member of the Panthers men's soccer program, Gaye made his presence known during his 27 career appearances in a BMCC uniform. During his time on the pitch for BMCC, Gaye was Mr. Clutch leading his team to their 12th and 13th conference championship in exciting fashion, assisting on the game-winning goal on a corner in the 2019 CUNYAC Final and burying both regulation goals and netting the game-clinching marker in penalty kicks during the 2022 Conference Championship. He earned the 2022 CUNYAC CC Men's Soccer Championship MVP with his effort and also became the sixth player in program history to receive CUNYAC Player of the Year accolades.
"Soccer is my first love, and my path to academic success at BMCC has also been challenging," said Gaye. "Injuries kept me back from achieving my full potential. However, I never got discouraged, and it paid off being a part of two CUNYAC Men's Soccer Championships, including scoring the game-clinching penalty kick in the 2022 Conference Final. After everything I had been through, it was awesome to finally see the rewards as 2022 Conference Championship MVP and earning a spot on the 2022 All-Region 15 First-Team."
"Winning the CUNYAC Championship was awesome because our season didn't begin the way we wanted with many talented players battling injuries all year," said Gaye. "We fought and put in hard work as the season went on, and going into our postseason in the conference and the Region, I thought our squad had a shot at nationals, but it didn't break our way. Still winning the CUNYAC Championship was great because confidence is everything, and it was great to see our determination and hard work."
The two-year forward concluded his career with 31 career points, and his 13 career goals are tied eighth most in program history with Ryuichiro Yasuda.
El Hadji is a true dual-threat athletically and academically, with his first true love for soccer so powerful that Professor Chris McCarthy had to recruit him harder than Head Coach Modou Seck did to work with him as a mathematical research assistant.
"His comprehension of mathematical concepts is way beyond those of his classmates, which led me to recruit him as a mathematical research assistant," said McCarthy. "El Hadji also truly loves playing soccer and is a dedicated athlete, and I know this from our conversations while I was recruiting him to join me as an assistant. Overall, El Hadji contributed greatly to the class and was a pleasure to teach. He is extremely responsible, hardworking, organized, polite, and very focused."
El Hadji's love of the game has no limit and serves as an escape for him. No matter his challenges, he can always lean on his relationship with his teammates for encouragement.
"I love being on the field because it is the only place where I can forget about all my personal life issues," said Gaye. "When I'm on the field, I only think about how to make our team win, and it's fun. I share my love with my teammates by making them believe they can do it too."
After graduation, El Hadji plans to pursue a career as an Electrical Engineer.
Below is a video feature on El Hadji's BMCC experience done by the CUNYAC:
Below is also a video feature on El Hadji's Scholar-Athlete Of The Year Acceptance Speech:
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The athletic program at Borough of Manhattan Community College encompasses a total of nine varsity teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level. For the latest news on the Panthers, please visit us at https://bmccathletics.com - The official site of BMCC Athletics. Follow the Panthers on Instagram (@bmcc_athletics) and Twitter (@BMCCAthletics), and Like Us on Facebook (BMCC Athletics).
