Sagaba Konate is playing in Moon tonight

[Sean Miller Fan]

PIAA Class A Quarterfinal against Monessen at Moon HS at 7:30. I wont be there but figured some may want to see how this local Pitt offer looks considering not much is known about him.

For conspiracy theorists out there, consider this:

Konate is from the same city in Mali as Diallo and Yawkwe. Now, Bamako is the capital and home to 1.8 million people so its not like its some little village. But, when you consider that basketball, though growing by leaps and bounds, is still not really a mainstream sport in that part of the world (and though bball is growing in Africa, Mali is not even one of its traditional hotbeds like Nigeria, Angola, or Senegal), its hard to imagine that Konate doesn't know Diallo and Yawkwe. Surely, they would have had to play on some of the same youth teams, travel teams, or in the same leagues they have down there.

I mention this because I ask myself "how in the world did Sagaba Konate end up in Hermitage, PA" from Bamako, Mali. Somebody brought him here and I wonder/hope if there is some type of Malian package deal that has been worked out behind the scenes. Probably not, but.....

 

[whirlybird optio]

Conspiracy theories, Malian (sp?) geography....SMF you are the best.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Originally posted by whirlybird optio:
Conspiracy theories, Malian (sp?) geography....SMF you are the best.

One can dream, right? The more likely scenario is that a rich family in the area brought Konate in to help the Kennedy Catholic squad..........but since all 3 are from the same city in Mali in Pitt is in on all 3, I threw it out there.

 

[thebadby2]

Awesome. I love World Music. Who's opening for him? nm

nm

 

[Pittnerski]

I watched him play in Clarion vs small Cameron County. CC had a kid same height going to bucknell next year. He didn't seem like a D1 recruit at all and must have blow up based on on AAU tournament.

Regarding Sag, athleticism off the charts. Very raw. Great rebounder. Needs help defensively as KC just parks him in the paint. Only scored on put backs and dunks never out of a set offense. Didn't seem to know the plays, and had a bit of a temperament toward his HC

 

[wbrpanther]

Main question. Was he able to stop anyone inside of 5 feet? I'll worry about his offensive development later if he can hold his ground, defend, rebound and block shots.

 

[Harve74]

Konate has FOUR older brothers who played or are playing college basketball in the USA. And a younger brother on the team with him at KC.

His family seems to be mounting their own immigration wave.

 

[cabe23]

He blocked a few shots, but he was actually better on offense. He's definitely pretty raw, but more raw on defense than offense.

 

[Pittnerski]

Best thing for him would be to get away from the Kennedy program and get to a prep school or academy where he would play better competition and learn some fundamentals. Kennedy coaches aren't doing him any favors