by Jim Buzzerd
More Konate and a QB commit
The topic of former West Virginia University basketball center Sagaba Konate and his somewhat mysterious knee injury has been a popular topic here since his season ended last December. I sort of bought in to the notion, perpetuated to some degree by coach Bob Huggins’ comments during the period when Konate was being medically evaluated. MRI’s apparently showed no knee damage and whenever Huggins was asked about Konate’s status he often remarked that only Sag’s brother could answer the question. The inference taken that Konate was sitting out on his brother’s advice, not his doctors.
Maybe a full understanding of the situation will never be delivered, but last weekend Konate’s bid to make an NBA roster was scheduled to begin in earnest at the NBA Summer League, but the undrafted free agent will miss the games because of his knee. Not much information was provided in a Tweet from an NBA writer, but this disclosure sheds a different light on the topic, at least to me. Surely now that he’s getting his chance to play in the NBA he would suit up at all costs, right? Just saying maybe there was more going on with his knee that some of us dismissed.
Switching gears to football, I’m going to mention a quarterback commitment who has been raising eyebrows in summer camps and Elite 11 tryouts this summer. Garrett Greene has been committed to WVU for a couple months and has been actively communicating with fellow high school seniors who head coach Neal Brown and his staff have targeted.
Yes, WVU just had a committed player who was recruiting other seniors right up until he flipped to Michigan. Hopefully, Greene doesn’t go down that path.
The Greene commitment didn’t provide much of a wow factor when it was announced. Probably because he stands just under six feet and his list of offers was modest. The buzz on Greene has grown since then however, and the Tallahassee native may very well raise his star rating from three to four. That bump seems likely due to his Elite 11 status. 247 Sports rates Greene as the 17th dual threat QB nationally. Despite being the smallest Elite 11 finalist, one observer was in awe of the velocity Greene has on his passes.
So, who is Greene targeting to join him at West Virginia?
Four-star running back Lamy Constant from Brooklyn is one of them. The 6-0,183 prospect has WVU squarely in the mix with LSU, Michigan State and Texas A&M for his services. He’s rated the 19th best running back nationally by 247 Sports and the top ball carrier in New York.
There is also an intriguing wide receiver in Bryce Gowdy from Deerfield Beach, Fla. that Greene has been talking to. Also with a four star rating, Gowdy has good size at 6-2, 207 and has a lot of suitors, but currently lists West Virginia as a favorite along with Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Oregon, Penn State and Tennessee.
Brown and his staff have been recruiting hard and haven’t been bashful about mixing it up with big time football schools. We’ll have to wait until December 18 to find out how well they finish.
