Duke basketball reached out to recent Kentucky commit Olivier Sarr

The Duke basketball program reached out to former Wake Forest transfer Olivier Sarr during his recruitment prior to his commitment to the Kentucky Wildcats.

The rich get richer in college basketball as the Kentucky Wildcats filled a glaring hole on its roster by landing Wake Forest transfer Olivier Sarr.

Sarr announced he would transfer from Wake Forest after the school moved on from head coach Danny Manning and hired East Tennessee State head coach Steve Forbes.

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The transfer also withdrew his name from consideration regarding the 2020 NBA Draft.

Upon Sarr’s announcement to transfer, he was considered one of the top transfers in the portal this offseason, but the amount of time that had passed in the offseason slightly affected his recruitment due to other teams already addressing their needs.

This includes the Duke Blue Devils, who reached out to the former ACC opponent, according to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, prior to Sarr’s commitment to the Wildcats.

Mike Krzyzewski currently has one open scholarship on his roster for next season.

Borzello also reported that Sarr heard from over a dozen schools, including Baylor, Florida State, and Gonzaga.

Duke added Columbia graduate transfer Patrick Tape this offseason after the 6-foot-10 forward committed, decommitted, and then recommitted from the program all within the span on ten days in April.

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Sarr stands 7-feet tall and averaged 13.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game in his junior season for the Demon Deacons.

Not listed as a graduate transfer, Sarr will apply for a waiver from the NCAA to be immediately eligible as things are not a slam dunk for the France native to get on the floor in Lexington as he said he would only play again in college if he were to get a waiver.

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Sarr has expressed interest in playing professionally either overseas or in the G-League if he does not get approval for a waiver from the NCAA before entering the 2021 NBA Draft.

In addition to Tape, Duke will also have freshman Mark Williams in its frontcourt for the 2020-21 season and the potential to play a small-ball lineup with freshmen Jalen Johnson, Henry Coleman, and Jaemyn Brakefield at the center portion.

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