[1] Badiane started his career playing for the US Rail Thies team in the Senegalese League in the 2000–01 season.

He emerged on the American basketball scene after an impressive showing at the ABCD Camp in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States.

[2] Badiane, then eighteen years old, signed with TV Langen in the German second division (acting as a farm team for the Opel Skyliners, in the German top level), and averaged 11.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game during the 2002–03 season, making an immediate impact.

Badiane then spent the next three years with the Skyliners, moving to another side in the league, the Artland Dragons, for the 2006–07 season.

Dawson claimed that Badiane still had value to the Rockets because at 6'11" and 240 pounds, he had a 7'4" wingspan, a 32" vertical leap, and was seen as a solid defensive and rebounding talent, playing both interior positions.