Sagaba Konate (born March 19, 1997) is a Malian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for

ratiopharm Ulm Ratiopharm Ulm, officially stylized as ratiopharm Ulm, is a professional basketball club based in Ulm, Germany. The club has two teams, one professional team, which plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, the major German professional league and one ...

of the German

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL seaso ...

. He played college basketball for the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University, an American university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Mou ...

. A native of

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on the Niger River ...

, he moved to the United States to play at Kennedy Catholic High School starting in his junior season. As a sophomore at West Virginia, he was named third-team All-Big 12 and made the conference All-Defensive Team.

High school career

Konate, who grew up playing soccer, only started playing basketball in 2014. He credits his improvement to time spent in the weight room. Jeff Kollar and his wife became Konate's legal guardians as he attended Kennedy Catholic High School. At the high school level, Konate earned Player of the Year and All-State honors in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

and was a three-star recruit entering college.

College career

As a college player, Konate established himself as an expert shot-blocker, averaging 3.2 blocks per game in his sophomore year, which was 3rd in the nation for Division I. In addition, he averaged 10.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest. Konate flirted with the

2018 NBA draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inter ...

, but ultimately withdrew his name and returned to West Virginia. During his junior year, Konate broke the WVU all-time record for blocked shots with 191. He spent most of the season sidelined due to a knee injury. After the 2018-2019 season, Konate declared for the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, i ...

foregoing his senior year.

Professional career

After going undrafted, Konate signed with the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Atlantic Division (NBA) ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

on July 23, 2019. He was waived and then added to the roster of their

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

affiliate, the

Raptors 905 The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, Ontario, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fi ...

. Konate fractured his metatarsal in the preseason but returned in January 2020. He averaged 4.7 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. On August 20, 2020, Konate signed with Casademont Zaragoza of the Liga ACB. On November 29, 2020 Konate announced he had signed with Greek club PAOK Thessaloniki. On June 25, 2021, he signed with

Pallacanestro Trieste Pallacanestro Trieste 2004 is an Italian professional basketball club based in Trieste. They play in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) since the 2018–19 season. The Allianz Dome serves as the club's home arena. History A number of Trieste teams h ...

of the Italian

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tie ...

. On July 23, 2022, he has signed with

of the German

National team career

Konate has represented the under-20

Mali national basketball team Mali national basketball team ( French: Équipe nationale de basket-ball de Mali) represents Mali in men's international basketball competitions has yet to appear in the FIBA World Championship. Their best finish at the FIBA Africa Championship ...

, winning a bronze medal at the

2014 FIBA Africa Under-18 Championship The 2014 FIBA Africa Under-18 Championship was the 19th FIBA Africa Under-18 Championship, played under the rules of FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, and the FIBA Africa thereof. The tournament was hosted by Madagascar from August 2 ...

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

, 37 , , 2 , , 10.9 , , .564 , , – , , .636 , , 2.8 , , .3 , , .4 , , 1.4 , , 4.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 36 , , 25.4 , , .510 , , – , , .790 , , 7.6 , , .7 , , .4 , , 3.2 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 8 , , 7 , , 24.1 , , .435 , , .391 , , .813 , , 8.0 , , 1.4 , , .8 , , 2.8 , , 13.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 81 , , 45 , , 18.7 , , .509 , , .391 , , .756 , , 5.5 , , .6 , , .4 , , 2.4 , , 8.0

References

External links

West Virginia Mountaineers bioRealGM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Konate, Sagaba 1997 births Living people 21st-century Malian people Basket Zaragoza players Expatriate basketball people in Canada Expatriate basketball people in the United States Liga ACB players Malian expatriate basketball people in Spain Malian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Malian men's basketball players P.A.O.K. BC players Pallacanestro Trieste players Power forwards (basketball) Raptors 905 players Ratiopharm Ulm players Sportspeople from Bamako West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball players