Six months ago, Bakary Konate was a little-used, uncomfortable-looking freshman who seemed unsure of where to put all of his limbs when he did come off the bench.
In another six months? He’ll almost certainly be Minnesota’s starting center and a major determining factor to whether the Gophers can scrap in the Big Ten with an extremely young roster or whether they’re in for another disappointing year.
Is Konate ready for the huge change in role? Well, he doesn’t really have a choice.
“Well, we don’t have a lot of options, so he needs to get ready,” coach Richard Pitino said.