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.”
