MORGANTOWN — As West Virginia forward Sagaba Konate entered his name into the 2019 NBA draft, Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins didn’t close the door on Konate’s return to the school.
“What we were basically told [by the NCAA] is to keep it open until they sign with an agent,” Huggins said by phone Monday. “That doesn’t exactly work in every situation, because guys can still come back after the draft.”
Huggins vowed to keep Konate’s scholarship available until the 6-foot-8 junior rules out coming back. That means holding a roster spot until June, now that NCAA rules allow undrafted underclassmen to retain their eligibility.
“The way they we have it now, there is nobody available” to recruit in June, Huggins said. “Now you’ve got 12 guys who just lost their best player probably if he is going to the draft. They lost their best player and we can’t replace him. That’s not fair to them.”
Appearing in front of the media in Charleston on Monday night for the Mountaineer Athletic Club Scholarship dinner, Huggins said Konate’s final decision would be “a family decision.”
The school announced earlier Monday that Konate entered his name into the draft and plans to hire an agent, but under new NCAA rules, that does not automatically end Konate’s college eligibility.
By entering the draft, which is June 20 in Brooklyn, Konate’s next indicator to his future could depend on who he hires as an agent.
The NBA Players Association has a list of certified agents who are eligible to help underclassmen go through the draft process without jeopardizing eligibility.
In order to preserve college eligibility, Konate must sign with a certified agent. If he were to hire an agent outside of the list, he would forfeit his remaining seasons at West Virginia.
If Konate does sign with a certified agent, he faces two deadlines on whether to go pro or return to school.
The first deadline is May 29, which is 10 days after the completion of the NBA combine in Chicago.
That date is somewhat arbitrary, because under new rules passed last summer, players who want to remain in the draft can still return to school if they go undrafted, as long as they terminate all dealings with the certified agent.
If Konate were to be the final pick of the second round, for example, he would not be eligible to return to West Virginia.
If he were to go undrafted, Konate would have until June 24 to return to school.
“I would say he is aware of all of the options,” Huggins said. “I have given all of the information I have to him and his family.”
Konate, who was limited to just eight games last season because of a right knee injury, had applied for an NBA evaluation April 2, which comes from a group of NBA general managers.
Huggins said he couldn’t publicly divulge the information that came with the evaluation.
It is not known yet if Konate will be invited to this year’s combine. Those invitations generally come by the end of April or early May.
Konate emerged as a pro prospect as a sophomore, in which he averaged 10.8 points and recorded 116 blocked shots.
He first injured his knee late that season, but still opted to test the NBA draft waters and was invited to the combine.
Konate opted to withdraw from the 2018 draft and returned to school and had surgery on his knee, but his recovery was slower than he hoped.
He entered last season practicing sparingly. He played in the Mountaineers’ first five games, before sitting out the Nov. 28 game against Rider with knee soreness.
He then played in the next three games, including the Dec. 7 win against Pitt, in which he blocked seven shots to give him a school-record 191 for his career.
That was the final game of the season for Konate, who averaged 13.6 points and 8.0 rebounds over eight games.
If Konate were to remain in the draft, West Virginia would have three open scholarships to fill. The Mountaineers have already signed four players for next season.
Konate is the eighth WVU underclassman under Huggins to declare for the draft, following Joe Alexander, Devin Ebanks, Kevin Jones, Juwan Staten, Devin Williams, Jevon Carter and Esa Ahmad.
Alexander, Ebanks and Williams remained in their respective drafts, while Jones, Staten, Carter and Ahmad returned for their senior seasons.
Huggins said his job is to give the players the best information to make the decision.
“I’m not going to tell him to stay when he shouldn’t stay, I’m not going to tell him to go when he shouldn’t go,” Huggins said. “That’s not my deal. In the past, I’ve said to guys, ‘Are you sure that this is what you really want to do? Here is what you are passing up, here is what you could potentially get and here is what reality is of what you may get.'”
— WVMetroNews reporter Jake Flatley contributed to this story.
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