He recruited them in a cycle where he thought he was going to get a 4 star local recruit to be an impact player right away. After that fell through he went searching. If you remember there were a bunch of people he recruited BEFORE getting Gas and Bakary to commit. To characterize Pitino as obsessed with large Africans because he recruited 2 in one year is completely ignoring the circumstances. He needed big bodies next year, so he had to get 2 of them in Minneapolis, regardless of ability. I think both are intriguing prospects and hopefully they stick around campus and bust their as$es because they will likely be logging major minutes next year.
That all said, I definitely see us having players with similar playing styles to Bakary more so than Mo. I do not anticipate us to have a significant big man offensive weapon in future years. Look at his recruiting since, guards, guards, guards and wings. Our big men need to rebound above the rim, set solid screens, and be able to be effective rim protectors if the opposition gets past our aggressive perimeter defense. If they can knock down a 15-20 foot jumper or heck even a 3 ball or 2, HUGE bonus. The fact that we use Mo the way we do is an adaptation to what I think Pitino really wants to do, which is clear out the middle and have his guards get layups, or open looks in the corners and run the fast break off of turnovers. His forwards (lets not call them centers) will knock down shots from the elbow and 3 point slots and will crash the boards after setting solid screens.
